Mississippi sees increase in COVID cases in those under 50

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Health care systems across Mississippi are seeing a surge of coronavirus cases and hospitalizations in people under 50, a shift from earlier in the pandemic when the virus was predominately affecting older adults. A hospital official said there were only six available ICU beds in the entire state.

“Most of the people that are unvaccinated in Mississippi are under 50, so that’s the population that we’re seeing,” said Dr. Alan Jones, Associate Vice Chancellor for Clinical Affairs at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. “It’s attacking the vulnerable and the vulnerable are the unvaccinated.”

In response to the surge, Mississippi State University will be requiring masks indoors for the fall 2021 semester, the school announced in a news release Wednesday.

Officials at Mississippi’s only level-one trauma center and teaching hospital said Wednesday that 90% of the new cases and hospitalizations they are seeing are among unvaccinated people.

The Mississippi State Department of Health reported 2,821 new cases of coronavirus in a single day Wednesday, numbers not seen in the state since the last surge of the virus over the winter. Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs Dr. LouAnn Woodward said during the last major surge, the vaccine was not yet available.

Woodward said it’s exhausting for medical officials to know there’s a tool available now that can be used to help fight the virus and people are refusing it.

“It is almost impossible to put into words the frustration that we all feel, the disappointment that here we are again and honestly, some low level of anger,” said Woodward, who is also dean of the School of Medicine. “There are a lot of people in health care right now that feel pretty mad about this situation.”

More than 1,000 people were hospitalized with coronavirus in Mississippi on Wednesday. University of Mississippi Medical Center Chief Administrative Officer Dr. Jonathan Wilson said there were only six available ICU beds in the entire state.

There have been days in the past few weeks when there were as many as 60 people waiting for beds at the medical center, Woodward said.

“There are moments when we’re holding what I would say is a hospital’s worth of patients in the emergency department, in the recovery room and other places like that are waiting for a bed,” said Woodward. “That just puts a strain on the entire system.”

At the University of Mississippi Medical Center, the surge in virus cases has been complicated by an ongoing staffing shortage. Jones said there are currently hundreds of positions open at the hospital. There are close to 30 beds that aren’t being used because there are not enough employees to care for the patients, he said.

“I think I can safely say that other health systems around us and the city and the state are at a breaking point,” he said.

Jones said there were 94 people hospitalized with coronavirus Wednesday at the medical center, with 13 of those cases being children.