Mississippi State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs is encouraging residents to get vaccinated for the flu.

“Please get your flu shots,” Dobbs said during a Wednesday news briefing on the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s a tool we have in our tool chest we can execute now to prevent additional deaths and hospitalizations,” he said. “It’s going to be definitely challenging with the coronavirus pandemic because people can get the viruses simultaneously.”

The State Department of Health reported Wednesday 23 new COVID-19 cases and one new death for Lauderdale County.

There were 552 new COVID-19 cases and 24 COVID-19 related deaths reported statewide on Wednesday. Ten of those deaths occurred between Aug. 31 and Sept. 14 and were identified from death certificate reports. Three of the new deaths reported Wednesday were in Clarke County.

The state has reported 94,573 COVID-19 cases and 2,870 deaths since it began tracking the coronavirus in March. The Department of Health presumes 85,327 people have recovered from COVID-19 since March.

Lauderdale County has reported 2,038 COVID-19 cases and 125 deaths since March. Clarke County reported seven new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, bringing its totals to 570 cases and 45 deaths. Neshoba County had eight new cases and now has totals of 1,556 cases and 104 deaths.

Kemper County had two new COVID-19 cases, brining the total, to 288. The county has reported 15 deaths since March. Newton County reported six new cases for a total of 767 and no new deaths, keeping its total at 23.

There are 128 active outbreaks of COVID-19 in the state’s long-term-care facilities.

County case count

County	Total Cases	Total Deaths	Total LTC Facility Cases	Total LTC Facility Deaths
Adams	926	37	48	13
Alcorn	786	11	17	2
Amite	321	10	14	2
Attala	653	25	90	20
Benton	223	2	4	0
Bolivar	1813	66	200	26
Calhoun	508	12	25	4
Carroll	314	12	45	9
Chickasaw	667	24	44	13
Choctaw	181	6	1	0
Claiborne	459	16	43	9
Clarke	570	45	74	23
Clay	585	18	17	3
Coahoma	1144	28	79	2
Copiah	1166	33	51	4
Covington	813	22	31	7
De Soto	5477	59	64	13
Forrest	2425	71	171	40
Franklin	192	3	4	1
George	759	13	34	6
Greene	359	17	38	6
Grenada	1072	36	105	20
Hancock	572	21	9	4
Harrison	3805	73	239	31
Hinds	7032	159	422	65
Holmes	1095	58	100	20
Humphreys	375	15	21	6
Issaquena	104	3	0	0
Itawamba	787	21	80	16
Jackson	3430	69	77	7
Jasper	562	15	1	0
Jefferson	244	9	12	3
Jefferson Davis	335	11	3	1
Jones	2452	79	180	37
Kemper	288	15	39	9
Lafayette	2137	39	122	28
Lamar	1655	34	27	11
Lauderdale	2038	125	260	73
Lawrence	429	12	26	2
Leake	946	38	24	5
Lee	2654	68	154	30
Leflore	1383	81	189	45
Lincoln	1075	53	142	32
Lowndes	1449	58	98	33
Madison	3233	86	238	45
Marion	845	35	74	9
Marshall	1085	16	31	6
Monroe	1207	68	166	51
Montgomery	458	20*	49	9
Neshoba	1556	104	115	37
Newton	767	23	38	8
Noxubee	546	16	20	4
Oktibbeha	1763	50	189	31
Panola	1455	27	13	2
Pearl River	870	53	72	20
Perry	416	18	19	6
Pike	1224	50	82	23
Pontotoc	1249	16	17	1
Prentiss	834	17	48	3
Quitman	373	5	0	0
Rankin	3225	77	155	18
Scott	1171	26	20	3
Sharkey	265	13	43	8
Simpson	1018	44	105	19
Smith	529	14	54	8
Stone	365	12	47	8
Sunflower	1439	46*	72	11
Tallahatchie	764	21	29	6
Tate	962	37	32	13
Tippah	654	17	6	0
Tishomingo	667	38	96	26
Tunica	482	13	13	2
Union	988	24	46	11
Walthall	595	25	67	13
Warren	1384	50	119	24
Washington	2197	72	116	23
Wayne	888	21	59	10
Webster	333	13	52	11
Wilkinson	302	18	20	5
Winston	735	19	40	11
Yalobusha	423	14	35	7
Yazoo	1046	30	62	12
Total	94,573	2,870	5,883	1,185