Even though state health officials claim COVID-19 may have reached its peak in Mississippi at the end of January, Tate County reported its 7,000th case of coronavirus Feb. 8.
There has been a steady climb in local COVID numbers due to the omicron variant since the middle of last month. Tate County reported 1,073 new cases from Jan. 18 through Feb. 10, and two additional virus-related deaths.
Since the pandemic began in March of 2020, there have been 7,120 reported cases in Tate County and 133 deaths associated with COVID-19, according to statistics from the Mississippi Department of Health.
“We are seeing increased numbers of COVID positive cases,” said Vanessa White, Administrator for Parekh Medical Clinic in Senatobia. “However, we have a lot of patients who are presenting ‘COVID-like’ symptoms and testing negative, which means they are probably being tested too early and, therefore could be positive if testing is halted a day or two.”
White said knowing the right time to test for COVID is a huge factor.
“The true problem is there is so much misinformation on when to test and that is determined off second-hand information from the person or persons they may have been exposed to,” she explained. “It’s a vicious cycle.”
MSDH recommends using a home test for COVID-19 if you develop symptoms of the virus or come in close contact with an individual with the virus and are testing on day 5 after exposure.
The Tate County school board unanimously agreed Tuesday, Feb. 8, to keep its mask mandate in place for at least another month. The Senatobia Municipal School District also has a mask policy in place for staff and students when they are inside buildings on all campuses.
