JACKSON, Miss. — The Mississippi State Department of Health said the state hit another grim milestone this week when it comes to hospitalizations.
In a tweet early Friday morning, State Health Officer Thomas Dobbs said the state recordered the highest number of new COVID-19 hospitalizations since the pandemic began on Thursday with 172 patients being admitted. The state also saw the highest number of current COVID cases with 1,166.
According to the data, 9.8 percent of all COVID cases in Mississippi wind up in the hospital.
Dobbs said the pressue on the intensive care units right now is worse that it was during the summer surge.
“Beginning next Tuesday elective surgery that require hospitalization must be delayed – statewide,” tweeted Dobbs.
Baptist Memorial Hospital-DeSoto CEO and administrator Brian Hogan says as of Friday all staffed beds are full.
“The number of patients in our ICU and step-down changes many times throughout the day. So, this doesn’t mean that we’ll be on it for an extended period of time,” Hogan said.
Under the direction of the state health department, any elective procedures requiring an overnight stay at the hospital will have to be postponed.
Hogan says at the moment they are only accepting emergency patients.
“We are not closed. We do not want people to stay home if they are in an emergency situation,” Hogan said.
Baptist–DeSoto officials want to ensure patients they have a system in place to transfer patients to hospitals across state lines if needed.
“Our software is constantly updating,” said Stephanie Christopher with Baptist Patient Placement Center. “One call into the patient placement center can tell you where the bed is available at that moment in time.”
Hospital officials say as of right now procedures are only being delayed by seven-days. However, there is a possibility the mandate could be extended.
Mississippi reported 2,283 new cases on Thursday, bringing the state total to 172,955.
Statewide, there have been 4,083 deaths, with 42 new death being reported in the last 24 hours.
