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Mississippi’s COVID-19 cases continue to grow, including cases in Adams County.

The Mississippi State Department of Health reported two new confirmed cases of COVID-19 for Adams County Tuesday morning and a total of 10 cases have now been reported for the county.

MSDH on Tuesday reported an additional 90 cases of the virus, increasing the state’s total to 937 cases. The state also reported four additional deaths. In all, 20 people have died in Mississippi due to COVID-19. Two of the deaths were reported in Wilkinson County and one death has been reported in Amite County.

No one is immune from potentially contracting COVID-19. Adams County Sheriff Travis Patten confirmed that he had tested positive for the virus last weekend and, fortunately, is recovering.

The recent spike in Mississippi’s numbers could be attributable to test results that are finally coming in.

As we know, test results depending upon where they were sent, can take four to 10 days to return, as was evidenced by Natchez Mayor Darryl Grennell’s own COVID-19 test taking nine days to confirm that he did not have COVID-19.

Given the lag time in test results, we can anticipate that a number of positive cases are just awaiting results for confirmation. That is why social distancing is so important to help stem the spread of the virus, particularly for elderly people and people with compromised immune systems or pre-existing conditions.

If you are exhibiting symptoms, sign up for free drive-thru testing that will be offered from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday at the Adams County Safe Room.

The appointment-only testing is free of charge and is only open to those who have been screened as having a high risk of infection and are having symptoms associated with COVID-19.

Anyone experiencing symptoms who believes they should be tested must first go through a free screening from a UMMC clinician through the C Spire Health UMMC Virtual COVID-19 Triage smartphone app.

Those without a smartphone can complete their screening by calling 601-496-7200.

We encourage people who have symptoms to get pre screened and to utilize the free testing available on Thursday.