Mississippi’s COVID-19 coronavirus statistics climbed higher Thursday after the last numbers were released from the state.

The Mississippi State Health Department reported 30 new deaths on Thursday, bringing the total death toll to 5,668.

In the first 21 days of January 884 deaths have been reported, making it second on the list of most COVID deaths reported since the pandemic began. In December, 982 deaths were reported.

If the pace of deaths reported in January were to continue through the end of the month, the state may see as many as 1,300 deaths.

Because some deaths reported on a given day or in a given month may have occurred earlier, not all of the deaths reported Thursday occurred in the last 24 hours.

The state reported Thursday 2,290 new cases were found in the last 24 hours. That brings the total number of cases found in the state since the pandemic began to 259,117.

The 14-day, daily average of new cases rose to 1,895 on Thursday.

The 7-day, daily average of new cases dipped to 1,973 with Thursday’s update.

Of the total cases, the state believes approximately 207,769 cases have recovered and while many people who are infected with the virus may only have moderate or even no visible symptoms, others can get gravely ill and can die as a result.