JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The Mississippi State Department of Health is reporting more than 7,000 new COVID-19 cases over a five-day period.
The department posted new numbers Monday, covering cases confirmed from Wednesday through Sunday.
The state is seeing a significant increase in cases compared to just a few weeks ago. During the two weeks from Nov. 23 to Dec. 6, Mississippi confirmed 5,185 new cases of COVID-19.
In the Jackson area on Monday, parking lots were full at medical clinics that offer COVID-19 testing. A long line of cars waited at a north Jackson church with a mobile test site in the parking lot.
The Health Department on Monday also reported an increase in the number of people hospitalized with confirmed cases of COVID-19 in recent days: The number was 326 on Sunday, up from 265 a week earlier.
The department did not immediately provide new information about the number of cases from the omicron variant.
Mississippi has confirmed more than 532,500 cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic in early 2020.
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