COVID-19 Hitting Missouri Hard Again; PCHC Says Pandemic Not Over

The overarching message from Pettis County Health Center during Monday's Pettis County COVID-19 Task Force briefing is the pandemic is not over yet. Reports from multiple news outlets in Missouri, as well as data from Pettis County's task force, support that viewpoint.

A headline from Tuesday's Saint Louis Post-Dispatch reports:

COVID-19 outbreak hits Missouri building for state workers in Jefferson City

Kansas City television station KMBC says:

Missouri case positivity rate rises to 8.1%, highest since late January

The Springfield News-Leader confirms:

some Springfield COVID-19 patients transferred to St. Louis, Kansas City

And the Pettis County Health Center reports 23 new coronavirus cases this past week, and 37 cases over the past two weeks. That's a 76.9% percent increase in cases this week. Pettis County Health Center says the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services is reporting a 7% positivity rate for Pettis County this week, compared to 5.3% last week and 1.8% percent 2 weeks ago with PCR testing.

Fox 2 out of St. Louis is reporting COVID-19 cases are spiking in Southwest Missouri. According to Fox 2, "The Springfield-Greene County Health Department said 44 percent of the 167 COVID-19 patients are in need of critical care. The delta variant is believed to be responsible for much of the spread."

Pettis County Health Center says Pettis County is still located between two areas of high COVID-19 cases and that 34% of coronavirus cases in Region 7, which Missouri is a part of, are being caused by the Delta variant of the virus. The Delta variant of the virus is known to be easily transmittable. Symptoms of the Delta variant of the virus include headache, followed by a runny nose and sore throat. Fever, cough, and loss of smell are less common symptoms with this variant.

The Springfield-Greene County Health Department told Fox 2 that they believe the Delta variant of COVID-19 is responsible for most of the spread in their county. They also told the television station 73 of the 167 patients are in need of critical care.

When the Pettis County Health Center says "the pandemic is not over yet," I believe them. The best thing you can do to protect yourself if you haven't already is get vaccinated. Hopefully, it won't hit Pettis County as hard as some other places.