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NATCHEZ — Adams County’s confirmed COVID-19 cases rose by four and the county’s death toll rose by one in Wednesday’s statewide Mississippi State Department of Health COVID-19 report.

Adams County’s total confirmed COVID-19 cases now stand at 881 and the death toll at 33, according to the MSDH report.

Adams County Coroner James Lee had reported the death of a 55-year-old male nursing home employee on Tuesday and the county’s death toll rose by one in Wednesday’s report.

MSDH Director of Communicable Diseases Melody Winston said an employee death in a long-term care facility would count as a community death rather than an LTC death.

Also on Tuesday, Lee said he recorded a COVID-19 death in a 71-year-old male from Vidalia.

Concordia Parish’s confirmed COVID-19 cases stood at 499 on Sunday with 14 deaths. Once Lee’s report is confirmed and added to Concordia Parish’s total, that number should rise to 15.

Mississippi recorded 711 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 22 deaths statewide in Wednesday’s statewide MSDH COVID-19 report.

Mississippi’s total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases now stands at 91,234 with 2,756 deaths statewide and 78,971 patients presumed recovered.

Adams County’s year-to-date COVID-19 positivity rate is estimated to be 21% compared to the Sept. 8 rate of 19.8% and still continuing the 20% range seen throughout August, according to data compiled by volunteer statistician Norma Williams.

“Just a reminder that our positivity rate is understated as the denominator (total tested) may include people tested, who do not live in Adams County,” Williams said in her weekly report released Tuesday night. “Keep in mind before loosening restrictions, the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) recommends the positivity rate should be below 5% and WHO (the World Health Organization) recommends positivity rates below 5% for 14 days straight. Per Johns Hopkins University & Medicine Coronavirus Resource Center, Mississippi’s seven-day rolling average positivity rate on Sept. 14 is 10.4% compared to the Sept. 7 rate of 17.3%.”

Over the past seven days, Sept. 9-15, Adams County had an additional 51 new cases bringing the county’s total to 881 or a 6% increase compared to the prior week’s 33 new cases and 4.1% increase, according to Williams’ Tuesday report.

“This uptick in cases could be attributed to the combination of activities for Labor Day and activities associated with resumption of the three school systems,” Williams said. “Per MSDH on Sept. 12, Adams County’s ages 18 and under bracket was constant at 31 total cases like the prior week ending Sept. 5. However, the age 18-29 bracket saw an increase of 11 new cases or 6% increase for a total of 199 cases compared to the 10 new cases and 6% increase for week ending Sept. 5.

Williams said the ages 18-29 bracket has continually held the largest percentage of total cases in Adams County and now represents 23% of the total cases.

“Additionally, the super-group of ages 0-49 represents 56% whereas the super-group of ages 50 and above represents 44% of Adams County’s total cases,” Williams said.

Also, according to Williams’ Tuesday report, since the start of school and as of the Sept. 11, according to the MSDH’s COVID-19 report for K-12 schools, Adams County has reported a total of two students and one teacher/staff member testing positive with no reported outbreaks.

Additionally, Williams reports that for the week ending Sept. 11, one teacher/staff member and five students are still quarantined as carryovers from the week ending Sept. 4 of five teachers/staff member and 11 Students.

“We understand the schools are managing to adhere to the masks and social distancing guidelines during in-house activities, etc.,” Williams said. “However, those guidelines are hard to enforce during the extracurricular activities (such as games, etc.) outside the classrooms. Unless something can be done to encourage more adherences during games, etc., these events could possibly serve as spreader events in the future since all schools have resumed sports.”

Adams County’s single day peak of 25 new cases is still holding for Aug. 22, Williams said.

In Concordia Parish, the Louisiana Department of Health reported at noon Sept. 16, that Concordia Parish had 37 new cases for the seven-day period Sept. 10-16 for a total of 498 cases with a 2.2% increase over the prior week’s 37 new cases and 8.5% increase, according to Williams’ report.

“However, per Concordia Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness on Sept. 13, there are 12 new cases not yet reported in the LDH dashboard reflecting a revised total of 509 cases,” Williams said. “As reported on Sunday and with respect to school age youth (those under age 20), Concordia Parish has a total of 46 cases as of Sept. 13 compared to 38 cases at as of Aug. 31. Also, Concordia Parish has a total of 80 cases in the Age 20-29 Bracket on Sept. 9 compared to 67 cases on Aug. 31 as reported by Concordia Parish OHSEP.”

Williams also reported that as of Sunday, the LDH reported that Concordia Parish broke their prior single day peak of 14 cases reported on Sept. 2 with a new single day peak of 26 cases on Sept. 9, which consisted of 25 cases on Sept. 9 and one case from Sept. 7 per Concordia Parish OHSEP.

Louisiana is still the No. 1 state for COVID-19 infection per capita with 3,398 cases per 100,000 people; Florida ranks No. 2 with 3,100 cases per 100,000 people; and Mississippi ranks No. 3 with 3,025 cases per 100,000 people.