Hospitalization numbers related to COVID-19 are continuing a steady decline but new cases are continuing to climb in pockets of the state, including Lafayette County.

On Thursday, the Mississippi State Department of Health reported a record high in new cases for Lafayette County for a second consecutive day.

Lafayette County reported 44 new cases as of 6 p.m. on Wednesday, bringing the County’s total to 1,288 cases since March 19. It surpassed Wednesday’s number of 42 new cases. According to the City of Oxford’s website, there were 164 active cases in Lafayette County as of Aug. 24.

The death toll in Lafayette County continued to rise this week with 34 total since March. Most of the reported deaths are coming from long-term care facilities with 24.

Students returned to classes this week at the University of Mississippi for the fall semester. The University is providing daily updated COVID-19 numbers with 131 active cases as of Thursday. Of those, 127 active cases are among students with three cases among staff and one case among faculty.

There are two outbreaks in residence halls and one campus program has a reported outbreak. There are 24 who are in quarantine and 19 others who are currently in isolation.

Hospital numbers are dropping in the state with 878 Mississippians currently hospitalized due to COVID-19 as of Aug. 25. There were 730 people with confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 148 being hospitalized with presumed cases. There were 119 people on ventilators and 232 people in intensive care units.