This corner of Mississippi has the highest percentage of COVID-19 cases in long-term care facilities

Published 1:46 pm Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Editor’s note: The following story incorrectly identified the county in East Central Mississippi with the highest number of cases in long-term facilities, which is Lauderdale County. The story has been corrected. 

Counties in the northeast corner of the Mississippi are seeing a high percentage of COVID-19 cases in long-term care facilities compared to the rest of the state.

Overall, the number of virus cases in Mississippi’s long-term care facilities is small. Tuesday’s numbers reveal that 11.5% of cases in the state are in long-term care facilities.

While most of the state’s 82 counties are seeing similar numbers, current numbers from the Mississippi State Department of Health reveal a different story in northeast Mississippi.

Seven of the state’s top 10 counties with the highest percentage of cases in long-term facilities are in the northeast corner of the state.

Long-term care facilities like nursing homes are considered high-risk locations because their residents are older or in poor health. Even one case of COVID-19 in these facilities among residents or employees is considered an outbreak.

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MSDH says long-term care facilities include nursing homes, intermediate care facilities for individuals with intellectual disabilities, personal care homes, assisted living facilities, long-term acute care facilities, and psychiatric or chemical dependency residential treatment centers.

Prentiss leads the state with 60.6% of its 33 cases in long-term care facilities. Not far behind are Itawamba County (50% of it 64 cases), Monroe County (49.7% of its 177 cases) and Calhoun County (39.7% of its 58 cases).

Monroe County has the second-highest number of virus cases in long-term care facilities in the state with 88 cases.

Lauderdale County in East Central Mississippi is the only county to report a higher number of cases with 104 cases in long-term care.

The top ten counties with the highest percentage of long-term care COVID-19 cases are:

  1. Prentiss County – 60.6% of cases
  2. Itawamba County – 50%
  3. Monroe County – 49.7%
  4. Calhoun County – 39.7%
  5. Grenada County – 38.9%
  6. Lafayette County – 37.5%
  7. Tunica County – 33.3%
  8. Lincoln County – 31.6%
  9. Chickasaw County – 31.3%
  10. Union County – 27.8%

More than a quarter of COVID-19 cases reported in long-term care facilities are in the 14 counties that make up the northeast corner of the state.

 

County Total Cases Total LTC Facility Cases % of cases
Prentiss 33 20 60.6%
Itawamba 64 32 50.0%
Monroe 177 88 49.7%
Calhoun 58 23 39.7%
Grenada 36 14 38.9%
Lafayette 96 36 37.5%
Tunica 36 12 33.3%
Lincoln 155 49 31.6%
Chickasaw 80 25 31.3%
Union 36 10 27.8%
Attala 137 38 27.7%
Smith 86 23 26.7%
Carroll 111 29 26.1%
Kemper 79 20 25.3%
Leflore 175 42 24.0%
Lauderdale 436 104 23.9%
Humphreys 26 6 23.1%
Pearl River 183 41 22.4%
Marion 76 14 18.4%
Pontotoc 22 4 18.2%
Clarke 67 12 17.9%
Adams 151 27 17.9%
Holmes 168 27 16.1%
Oktibbeha 57 9 15.8%
Jackson 270 39 14.4%
Madison 298 40 13.4%
Bolivar 112 15 13.4%
Tishomingo 8 1 12.5%
Neshoba 243 27 11.1%
Lowndes 65 7 10.8%
Noxubee 92 9 9.8%
Hancock 68 6 8.8%
Forrest 259 22 8.5%
Benton 12 1 8.3%
Pike 160 13 8.1%
Jones 193 15 7.8%
Wilkinson 71 5 7.0%
Warren 88 6 6.8%
Lee 75 5 6.7%
Washington 78 4 5.1%
Jefferson Davis 45 2 4.4%
Wayne 25 1 4.0%
Simpson 53 2 3.8%
Amite 32 1 3.1%
Hinds 565 16 2.8%
Rankin 221 6 2.7%
Scott 404 9 2.2%
Tate 45 1 2.2%
Lawrence 57 1 1.8%
Copiah 126 2 1.6%
Newton 106 1 0.9%
Lamar 125 1 0.8%
Harrison 186 1 0.5%
Desoto 308 1 0.3%
Alcorn 10 0 0.0%
Choctaw 14 0 0.0%
Claiborne 33 0 0.0%
Clay 57 0 0.0%
Coahoma 70 0 0.0%
Covington 84 0 0.0%
Franklin 17 0 0.0%
George 14 0 0.0%
Greene 6 0 0.0%
Jasper 64 0 0.0%
Jefferson 24 0 0.0%
Leake 257 0 0.0%
Marshall 48 0 0.0%
Montgomery 47 0 0.0%
Panola 40 0 0.0%
Perry 31 0 0.0%
Quitman 16 0 0.0%
Sharkey 5 0 0.0%
Stone 22 0 0.0%
Sunflower 60 0 0.0%
Tallahatchie 12 0 0.0%
Tippah 58 0 0.0%
Walthall 35 0 0.0%
Webster 21 0 0.0%
Winston 52 0 0.0%
Yalobusha 21 0 0.0%
Yazoo 154 0 0.0%
Total 8,207 965 11.8%