While the recent news involving the number of cases of COVID-19 in Warren County has been good, the reports in recent days have been a reminder the virus remains a threat and remains deadly.

For the fourth time in the past seven days, and second day in a row, Warren County on Thursday reported a death attributed to the COVID-19 virus. Overall, the county has now seen 50 deaths connected to the pandemic that began in March.

Of those 50 deaths, nearly half (24) have been connected to long-term care facilities within the county.

This sad news comes as the county continues to see low numbers of new cases reported. Thursday, four new cases were added to the county’s total, giving the county a seven-day average of just 2.7 cases per day.

Also, the low numbers Thursday continued to shape September as one of the best months thus far as it relates to new cases.

Through the first 17 days of the month, Warren County has reported a total of 52 new cases, an average of just over three per day. Those figures are significantly lower compared to August when 236 were reported in the first 17 days. In July, 246 cases were reported in the first 17 days.

Overall, since the first case was reported in the county on March 29, the county has now seen a total of 1,366 cases and 50 deaths.

In its report Thursday, the Mississippi State Department of Health announced the state as a whole saw 701 new cases and 24 deaths. The first case of COVID-19 was reported in Mississippi on March 11, and since then the state has reported 91,935 cases and 2,780 virus-related deaths.

Nationwide, there have been 6,571,867 cases and 195,053 deaths during the pandemic, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Mississippi ranks 23rd among all states in the number of cases, and 20th in total deaths, but is third in number of cases per 100,000 residents.

Mississippi ranks 25th in the total number of cases over the past seven days, with 3,429.