CDC report misinterpreted by some; counties see increase in active cases

Tuesday, September 1, 2020

A report by the Center for Disease Control on COVID-19 deaths has been misinterpreted, according to a local health department.

Maria Davis, health educator for the Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center, released a statement in response to the recent misinformation circulating about COVID-19 deaths, which claims 6% of reported COVID-19 deaths truly died of the virus.

The CDC states that 6% of the reported deaths had only COVID listed as the cause of death on the death certificate.

“What this means is 94% had other comorbidities determined as the cause of death along with COVID-19,” Davis said in the statement. “Comorbidities are NOT the same as preexisting conditions. The CDC defines comorbidities as more than one disease/condition is present in a person at the same time. The most common comorbidities of reported COVID deaths are pneumonia, adult respiratory distress syndrome, respiratory failure, hypertensive disease, cardiac arrest, and diabetes.

“To summarize, those that die from COVID-19 die because of what the virus does to the body.”

Cape Girardeau County reported another death on Monday afternoon, the ninth in the county related to COVID-19. The resident was in their 80s, according to the health department.

Cape Girardeau County currently has 228 active cases.

Scott County also reported a death related to the virus on Friday, making 14 deaths since the pandemic began in March.

Late Monday afternoon the Scott County Health Department reported 20 new cases since Friday, with 10 recoveries. Currently there are 137 active while 488 have recovered.

The New Madrid County Health Department reported 14 new cases since Friday. There are currently 51 active cases with 343 out of quarantine. There have been five deaths reported.

There are 10 new positive cases in Mississippi County since Friday while the total number of active cases has remained the same at 60. Of the active community cases, 54 are confirmed positive and six are probable.

The Mississippi County Health Department also warns that they are finding it very common for people who have COVID-19 to experience similar symptoms to allergies.

According to the health department, while COVID-19 can cause a wide variety of symptoms that range from mild to severe, some people infected with COVID may only have one or two symptoms. And sometimes, these symptoms feel just like the same ones we might experience with allergies.

“At this time, it is hard to tell if you are suffering from your usual allergies or if you are possibly infected with COVID without a test. One major way to tell that it is NOT your allergies is if you start running a fever,” the statement said. “Because COVID-19 and seasonal allergies share some of the same symptoms, we ask that you please avoid being around people if you start to experience some of these symptoms to help us slow the spread.”

The Stoddard County Public Health Center reported nine new cases since Friday with 49 cases active in the county. There have been 260 recoveries and 10 deaths since the pandemic began.

There are 43 active cases in Pemiscot County according to the Pemiscot County Health Department with three residents hospitalized. There have been nine deaths and 299 released from isolation.

An update from the Dunklin County Health Department had not been released as of Tuesday morning.

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