Friday, the Mississippi State Department of Health reported 94 new cases of COVID-19 in Mississippi.

The state total now stands at 579, with seven deaths confirmed. As of Thursday, all of the deaths have been among Mississippians 60 or older, a reminder that strong protective measures are important for this age group. To date, there remains no confirmed cases of the virus in Warren County.

Sharkey County is now reporting one confirmed case.

MSDH reports cases based on a patient’s physical address, as opposed to the county of the facility that conducted the test. Therefore, based on MSDH reports, no one with an address in Warren County has tested positive for the virus.

The MSDH does not track numbers of positive tests conducted at facilities per county.

Also, local medical officials have stressed the importance of social distancing and restricting the size of gatherings, given the almost certainty that there are those who have the virus within Warren County who have simply either not shown any symptoms or have not been tested.

Tests locally are being performed on those individuals who have reached out to their healthcare providers and are showing symptoms. Tests are not being performed on non-symptomatic individuals.

The guidelines for testing remain the same. Those who are showing symptoms of COVID-19 — a fever of 100.4 or higher, upper respiratory issues like coughing, wheezing and/or shortness of breath, if a patient has been directly exposed to someone who has tested positive, traveled, been out the country or visited one of the areas defined by the Centers for Disease Control as an area of concern — and who have gone through an initial screening will be tested. Instead of going to the hospital, those who feel they have symptoms should contact their healthcare provider first.

The Vicksburg Post has reached out to each of the healthcare facilities in Warren County that have been providing tests. Some have reported testing figures to The Post, but others have declined, only confirming they have conducted tests.

As of March 25, MSDH reported that 2,776 individuals in Mississippi have been tested for COVID-19. That means roughly 17.5 percent of patients who are tested for the virus receive a positive result.

The number of confirmed cases tracks with the increase in testing nationwide. Also, as cases are reported, so to are the recoveries of those who have been diagnosed with the virus and made a full recovery.

According to a tracker developed by Johns Hopkins University and Medicine (coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html), there had been more than 86,000 confirmed cases reported in the United States as of Friday morning, with 1,301 virus-related deaths. But, the tracker also reports that 753 have recovered from the virus.