Coronavirus cases increase locally; most state deaths involve elderly

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases continues to rise in Missouri, exceeding 2,500.

According to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, there have been 3,037 positive COVID-19 cases in the state as of Tuesday afternoon.

The number of confirmed cases in Scott County has reached 11 according to the Scott County Health Department while New Madrid County now has five confirmed cases.

According to the Mississippi County Health Department, they received several negative results for COVID-19 over the weekend but they currently do not have a confirmed positive case in the County. However people are being tested because of being in close contact to someone who has had a COVID-19 positive test result or who has a pending COVID-19 test.

Missouri currently has the ability to do 2,300 tests per day, but in some cases it is taking eight to nine days to get results from some lab facilities.

Other local county positive case totals as of Tuesday afternoon are:

• Cape Girardeau 20

• Dunklin 8

• Stoddard 8

• Pemiscot 3

• Butler 5

• Bollinger 2

While there have been no deaths reported locally, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services cited 53 fatalities statewide from COVID-19.

Twenty of the 53 Missouri residents who have died were age 80 or older, and 17 were in their 70s. Nine were in their 60s and five in their 50s. Just two of the 53 deaths confirmed by the state involved people younger than 50.

The actual number of deaths in Missouri may be significantly higher. A database operated by Johns Hopkins University shows 65 deaths in Missouri. The discrepancy could be because Missouri just recently changed its policy to require that coronavirus deaths be reported within 24 hours.

Authorities on Tuesday reported the first death of a state prison inmate from the coronavirus. Officials in St. Joseph said a man in his 50s from the Kansas City area was the first inmate in the state to test positive for COVID-19. He was last held in the Western Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in St. Joseph. His name was not released, The Kansas City Star reported.

Nursing homes have been severely impacted in Missouri, especially Frontier Health & Rehabilitation in St. Charles, where 35 residents and seven workers have tested positive since the outbreak was first reported March 23, and test results are still pending for 14 others. Three residents of the nursing home have died from COVID-19.

Frontier houses 113 mostly elderly patients who are recovering from medical procedures. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch cited inspection reports in which the nursing home received poor reviews after federal inspectors allegedly observed nurses clean residents, change their clothing and deposit soiled clothing without washing their hands.

Most infected people develop mild or moderate coronavirus symptoms that clear up within three weeks, such as fever and cough. But older adults and people with existing health problems are particularly susceptible to more severe illness, including pneumonia.

— The Associated Press contributed to this report.