Coronavirus (COVID-19) updates

Scott County now has the dubious distinction of having the highest number of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 in Missouri but the rate of positive cases is dropping. According to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services Friday morning, Scott County had 208 confirmed positive COVID cases between Sept. 8-14, a daily average of 30 and 543 per 100,000 residents. There was one confirmed death in that time...

Four more deaths related to COVID-19 have been reported locally since Friday as area health departments continue to be swamped with new positive cases. Two deaths were reported in Mississippi County since Friday as the county continues to have the highest increase in COVID cases in the last week. The deaths mark 38 that have died from the virus...

SIKESTON — Recent surges in positive COVID-19 cases have caused some local school districts to reinstate temporary mask mandates in an effort to decrease the number of cases and quarantines among teachers and students. On Friday, the Sikeston R-6 School District alerted parents the district would implement at two-week mask requirement before considering a building closure after the district’s average daily attendance rate was at 80.24%, a high number of classrooms were without substitutes and one school building had over 5% student-and-staff-positivity rate.. ...

SIKESTON — A Charleston, Missouri, pharmacist and nonprofit organizations have teamed up to offer pop-up COVID-19 vaccination and education clinics in Southeast Missouri. Charleston pharmacist Dr. Richard Logan Jr. said when the vaccine arrived early this year, with the help of the county health department, mass vaccination clinics were held in Mississippi County, including in its largest towns, Charleston and East Prairie...

With eight of the nine hardest-hit counties over the past week, southeast Missouri has become the epicenter of Missouri’s COVID-19 outbreak. And the numbers are showing in local school districts. According to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services website, there were 65 positive cases in ages 5-19 in the Sikeston R-6 district between Aug. 18-Aug. 31...

Local hospitals continue to see a high number of patients with COVID-19 according to information released from the Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. According to information released from MDMC, there are no staffed COVID beds available at the Sikeston hospital or at Saint Francis Medical Center or Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau. There are also no non-COVID ICU beds available at the three hospitals as well...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Thursday is announcing sweeping new federal vaccine requirements affecting as many as 100 million Americans in an all-out effort to increase COVID-19 vaccinations and curb the surging delta variant that is killing thousands each week and jeopardizing the nation’s economic recovery...

The New Madrid County Health Department has released a response to the New Madrid County R-1 “masked and monitored” program. On Sept. 1, the New Madrid County R-1 Board of Education unanimously implemented a plan to give health students an option to at-home quarantine...

Another death related to COVID-19 was reported in Mississippi County on Friday, as active cases continue to steadily increase in the area. On Friday afternoon, the Mississippi County Health Department reported the county’s 35th death related to COVID along with 82 new positive cases. The number of active cases in the county increased to 154...

The number of active COVID-19 cases continues to climb in the area as do the number of deaths related to the virus. On Friday, the Scott County Health Department reported the death of three residents related to complications from COVID-19. One person was in their 50s, another in their 60s and one in their 80s. The deaths make 92 in the county related to COVID-19...

MINER, Mo. — In an effort to help relieve hospital strain and health care worker fatigue, a temporary infusion site has been set up at Miner Nursing Center to treat patients with COVID-19 but also prevent hospitalizations and even death. “This one (in Miner) will be functional on Friday and will have five infusion stations,” said Paula Nickelson, administrator of the Office of Emergency Coordination for the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, who was present Thursday as the Scott County site was set up in an unused wing of Miner Nursing Center.. ...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) has activated a state contract with SLSCO of Galveston, Texas, to provide monoclonal antibody (mAb) infusion treatment for 30 days at sites in the following counties: Jackson, Pettis, Scott, Butler, and Jefferson...

Many areas of Missouri have been seeing a surge of COVID-19 cases the last month and Scott County along with Mississippi County and Cape Girardeau County have been deemed hot spots. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services issued the hotspot advisory on Tuesday for all three counties, along with Perry County. Cases have been elevated in Cape Girardeau (431), Mississippi (89), Perry (116) and Scott (330) counties within the past two weeks...

SIKESTON — Sikeston City Hall will be closed to the public for the remainder of the week. According to city officials, there are currently 11 employees, nearly 10% of the city’s workforce, out of the office due to positive COVID tests. Five employees working on the first floor of City Hall are out with COVID...

As students return to classes they are once again confronted with the COVID-19 pandemic with the number of active cases in local counties over twice what they were a year ago. On Monday, the Scott County Health Department reported 46 new COVID-19 cases since Friday, leaving the county with 330 active cases. A year ago, Scott County had 140 active cases...