The number of new COVID-19 coronavirus cases in Mississippi has jumped by more than 300 percent in the last 30 days, state health department records show.

On Thursday, the state reported 452 new cases had been found in a 24-hour period that ended at 3 p.m. Wednesday. That brought the 7-day average of new COVID-19 cases to 420 new cases per day.

That number is more than 330 percent higher than the same statistic from April 18 when the number was just 96 cases per day.

Looking at the 14-day averages, through Wednesday, the current number is 378 new cases on average per day over a two-week period. That’s nearly 300 percent higher than the same period in April.

Earlier this week, Mississippi State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs acknowledged the rising case counts and encouraged Mississippians to get a booster shot.

“COVID cases and now hospitalizations increasing,” Dobbs wrote on social media. “Please get your booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine if you have not yet done so.

“Remember – we have effective treatments for COVID so GET TESTED/GET TREATED if you become ill.”

Through Wednesday, Mississippi has recorded a total of 803,763 cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus in Mississippi and has recorded 12,462 deaths from the virus.