While the governor’s Safe Return Order has been extended, the number of cases has grown statewide and in Lincoln County.

Lincoln County has 730 cases, which is an increase of 42 since last reported Tuesday. There are 38 deaths, 115 long-term care facility outbreaks and 27 LTC deaths. This has not changed since last reported Tuesday.

On Thursday, Governor Tate Reeves announced the extension of Executive Order 1514, which will be in effect until Aug. 17.

“We are throwing everything that we can at the hospital crisis in our state, and we are going to continue working to ensure the integrity of our health care system,” said Reeves during Thursday’s press conference.

As of Friday, Mississippi had 58,747 cases, with 1,663 deaths. There were 52 new deaths.

There are 201 current long-term care facility outbreaks. An outbreak occurs when a resident or employee of a facility has the virus.

A total of 35,071 are presumed to have recovered from COVID-19 in Mississippi.

There are 989 individuals hospitalized with the coronavirus, with 297 in intensive care and 176 on ventilators.

Testing is constantly being conducted, and 470,048 tests have been done, with 453,670 being for detection of the virus and 16,378 being for antibodies.

As of now, Lincoln County does not have a mask ordinance or other ordinances related to the coronavirus. Across the state, the governor has deemed 37 counties “hot spots.”

The counties included closest to Lincoln County are Claiborne, Hinds, Jefferson, Rankin, Simpson and Walthall counties.

With the rise in cases, testing is still being conducted. In Brookhaven, testing is available at King’s Daughters Medical Center.

The COVID-19 screening site is located behind the Emergency Room and will be open to the public 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday & Sunday. This screening is for individuals 12 years of age and up.

Call 601-835-9455 before arriving to schedule an appointment. Traffic should enter from Brookman Drive behind the hospital.