A day after Mississippi reported a more than nearly two-month high in daily new cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus, the state’s top health officer said the equilibrium in the state’s relatively stable caseload was “unraveling” and pointed to rising cases in schools as a warning.

Mississippi State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs wrote Wednesday on social media that the spike in numbers and the high number of K-12 students with new cases of coronavirus and increasing hospitalization was worrisome.

“Our equilibrium is unraveling,” Dobbs wrote on social media. “We know what it takes if we will just do it.”

Dobbs referenced an alarming spike in cases reported on Tuesday when Mississippi reported the highest number of new daily COVID-19 coronavirus cases since mid-August – 975.

The state reported that last week 521 new coronavirus cases were found in Mississippi’s K-12 schools with 366 of those cases in students and the rest in teachers and staff.

More than 7,300 students, teachers and staff were quarantined last week due to COVID-19 exposure, the state reported.

On Wednesday, the state reported 563 new cases, bringing the total cases since the pandemic began in March to 102,241. Of those cases, the state believes approximately 90,500 have recovered.

The state reported 24 new deaths Wednesday. Of those deaths, nine occurred between September 13 and September 30.

A total of 3,051 people in Mississippi have died as a result of coronavirus, the state reported.

The 7-day, daily average of new cases rose to 579 with Wednesday’s update.

The 14-day, daily average rose to 548 cases per day.

Also still far from the record levels seen earlier in the pandemic, the state reported Wednesday that the number of hospitalized patients with confirmed COVID-19 or suspected COVID has risen over the last three days. The state reports 455 patients with confirmed COVID were hospitalized and another 133 suspected, but not yet confirmed with a test, cases were hospitalized as well.