In-Depth
In Mississippi, COVID-19 Exceeds Great Influenza’s 1918 Death Toll
In 2020, Mississippi recorded the highest mortality rate since 1918—when the Great Influenza swept the state, killing thousands.
Ashton Pittman
February 4, 2021
In 2020, Mississippi recorded the highest mortality rate since 1918—when the Great Influenza swept the state, killing thousands.
In his annual State of the State address Tuesday, Gov. Tate Reeves memorialized a long, cruel 2020 from the steps of the Mississippi Capitol. Behind the governor lay nearly a year of an uncontained pandemic and a hospital system just beginning to contain the crush of the virus’ worst wave. Still, Reeves struck an undeniably triumphant note with his address.
More Mississippians are now on ventilators than at any other time since the COVID-19 pandemic first arrived in the Magnolia State in March. The Mississippi State Department of Health reported Monday that 201 intubated patients were relying on the machines to breathe, surpassing the summer high of 197 patients on Aug. 8.
Beleaguered hospitals through the Magnolia State have begun taking extreme measures to stay afloat amid a mounting deluge of COVID-19 patients.
Exhausted health-care workers faced a worsening situation at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson today as the state’s largest hospitals continued to admit patients without enough beds to place them in.
“I think that from the standpoint of myself and my own opinion and the leadership here at the medical center, we very much believe we should have a statewide mask mandate,” Dr. LouAnn Woodward said today
The Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting conducted data analysis showing that coronavirus deaths are twice as high per capita in Mississippi’s poorest counties. The death rate rose to 3.3 times higher when compared with counties where the per-capita income was at least $25,000.
A large majority of Mississippians have voted to legalize medical marijuana. With more than 70% of votes counted as of 11 p.m., about 67% of the state’s voters have opted to legalize medicinal weed with votes for Initiative 65.
Today, former President Barack Obama cited that progress and urged the Magnolia State to do something it has not done since Reconstruction: Elect a Black man to the U.S. Senate.
Mississippi Journalism and Education Group is a a 501(c)(3) nonprofit media organization (EIN 85-1403937) for the state, devoted to going beyond partisanship and publishing solutions journalism for the Magnolia State and all of its people.
125 S. Congress Street #1324
Jackson, MS 39201
info@mississippifreepress.org
tips@mississippifreepress.org
events@mississippifreepress.org
601-362-6121
The Mississippi Free Press is a project of the Mississippi Journalism and Education Group, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit journalism organization (EIN 85-1403937).