While the state health department publishes new deaths each day, those reports are not necessarily from the previous day. This chart uses day-of-death data, reported by the health department after COVID-19 death investigations, to show the date that each death happened, both in long-term care settings and the general population.

Though long-term care residents never drove overall new case growth, they did comprise most COVID deaths in the state until July, when they accounted for just one-third of all deaths. As of mid-August, long-term care residents account for 43% of all deaths. Late-May, the state completed universal long-term care facility testing of every resident and staff, accounting for nearly 27,000 tests, which correlated with reduced long-term care cases across the state over the following months.

Learn more about long-term care cases here.

View all of our COVID-19 interactive charts here.

For COVID-19 news as it happens, follow our Twitter feed the latest updates. Follow our complete Coronavirus in Mississippi coverage here.


We want to hear from you!

By listening more intently and understanding the people who make up Mississippi’s communities, our reporters put a human face on how policy affects everyday Mississippians. We’re listening closely to our readers to help us continue to align our work with the needs and priorities of people from all across Mississippi. Please take a few minutes to tell us what’s on your mind by clicking the button below.


Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.

Erica Hensley, a native of Atlanta, has been working as an investigative reporter focusing on public health for Mississippi Today since May 2018. She is a Knight Foundation fellow for our newsroom’s collaboration with local TV station WLBT and curates The Inform[H]er, our monthly women and girls’ newsletter. She is the 2019 recipient of the Doris O'Donnell Innovations in Investigative Journalism Fellowship. Erica received a bachelor’s in print journalism and political science from the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism and a master’s in health and medical journalism from the University of Georgia Grady College for Journalism and Mass Communication.