The Mississippi State Department of Health is recommending that all state residents, even those who are vaccinated, wear a mask in public indoor settings.

This recommendation comes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidelines to say that fully vaccinated people should wear a mask in public indoor spaces in areas of substantial or high transmission.

State epidemiologist Dr. Paul Byers said at a Wednesday press conference that the majority of Mississippi’s COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths are among unvaccinated individuals.

“The problem is that we are seeing so much transmission right now — such high levels of substantial transmission throughout the state,” Byers said, “and with a highly infectious variant that is twice as infectious as any previous variants that have been identified, that we are having spillover into individuals who’ve been fully vaccinated.”

The Delta variant is responsible for the current surge. Byers estimates that now, over 90% of COVID-19 cases in Mississippi are Delta variant cases.

State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said MSDH is concerned about increasing transmission of COVID-19 among younger age groups. An increasing number of people under 50 years old are being hospitalized due to COVID-19.

Locally, Lauderdale County is seeing a surge in cases. The county’s seven-day rolling average of new cases is 40.7. A week ago, that number was 24, and two weeks ago, it was 5.4.

Average case numbers in nearby counties

On Wednesday, the seven-day rolling average of new cases for each nearby county was as follows.

Neshoba County: 11.6 cases

Newton County: 7 cases

Kemper County: 2.1 cases

Clarke County: 5.9 cases

Local vaccinations rates

MSDH recommends that Mississippians get vaccinated against COVID-19 if they are eligible for vaccination. Vaccination rates for local counties, as reported by MSDH on Wednesday, are below.

Lauderdale County: 34% fully vaccinated

Neshoba County: 21% fully vaccinated

Newton County: 34% fully vaccinated

Clarke County: 33% fully vaccinated

Kemper County: 30% fully vaccinated