ST. LOUIS (AP) - More than 99,000 people have been sickened and 1,701 have died from the coronavirus so far in Missouri, data released Friday show.
Over the past week, 9,099 new cases were reported in Missouri, according to an Associated Press analysis of Johns Hopkins University’s COVID-19 tracking project data as of Thursday. That’s about 1,300 new cases per day.
In total, 99,160 people have tested positive for the virus since it first struck Missouri, according to state health department data.
Hospitalizations because of the virus are also up, and more than 12% of those tested for the virus in the past week were positive.
The White House Coronavirus Task Force identified 67% of Missouri counties as having moderate to high community transmission of the virus as of the first week of September, according to a Sept. 6 report obtained by the Center for Public Integrity.
The task force recommended counties with moderate to high community spread shut down bars.
The St. Louis area has been among the hardest hit in Missouri.
An additional 306 people were sickened and 33 people died from the coronavirus last month in St. Louis County long-term care facilities, the county health department reported Friday.
COVID-19 cases in nursing homes and other long-term care centers were up in August compared with July, when 256 new cases were reported. At least 33 people died in July as well.
County health officials say most deaths and coronavirus cases occurred early in the pandemic before rules to stem the spread of the virus were fully implemented.
At least 494 people in long-term care facilities have died from the virus since it first struck the area in March. In total, the county reported 2,320 cases in those centers between March and August.
In the Kansas City area, county officials on Thursday closed the Jackson County Historic Truman Courthouse in Independence after “several county employees” tested positive for the virus, The Kansas City Star reported.
The courthouse will be closed until at least Sept. 20.
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