The Mississippi State Department of Health reported the state’s seventh pediatric death and warned of the increasing amount of deaths in unvaccinated pregnant women.

“We do know that COVID is especially problematic and dangerous for pregnant women,” said Thomas Dobbs, M.D., MSDH State Health Officer.

Currently, the MSDH is investigating the deaths of eight, unvaccinated pregnant women who have died in the past several weeks. The department released data showing babies are twice as likely to die in the womb after 20 weeks in COVID-19 infected women than in women who aren’t infected.

The department released data showing babies are twice as likely to die in the womb after 20 weeks in COVID-19 infected women than in women who aren’t infected.

State Epidemiologist Dr. Paul Byers said Mississippi was reporting its seventh pediatric death of the virus since the start of the pandemic — a child less than a year old.

“Fortunately, we are starting to see an inflection point with somewhat of a decline in hospitalizations and daily cases, but we’re still seeing a significant amount of deaths,” said Dobbs. “We’re still logging thousands of cases a day.”

Mississippi has gained 3,138 more COVID-19 cases, 83 deaths and 134 ongoing long-term care facility outbreaks. The state total is now 458,420 cases and 8,870 deaths and 1,208,799 persons have been fully vaccinated.

Lafayette County has 36 new COVID-19 cases and one death. There have been no new reports of LTC facility outbreaks or LTC facility deaths in the county.

Mississippi schools are seeing a slight decrease in coronavirus cases in schools, said Byers. The week of August 30 to September 3, 15,000 students were on quarantine, compared with 23,000 in the previous week and 28,000 in the week before that.

Lafayette County Schools reported 3 new outbreaks, 11 teachers and staff quarantined and 421 students quarantined. There have been approximately two teachers and staff and approximately 21 students with confirmed COVID infection.

Oxford Schools reported 71 students quarantined, approximately four teachers and staff and approximately six students have tested positive for COVID-19. There have been no reports of outbreaks.