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.

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%