Pettis County added 70 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Monday, bringing the total number of cases to 4,077, according to the Pettis County Health Center. A new report had not been issued since Dec. 23 due to the Christmas holiday.
This is an increase of 169 cases in the past week and 312 cases in the past two weeks, according to the Pettis County COVID-19 Task Force briefing issued Monday. The weekly positivity rate was not available Monday and will be included with next week’s briefing.
“Thank you to everyone who limited their contacts over the Christmas holiday and we urge everyone to continue to use caution in celebrating the end of 2020,” the Health Center stated in Monday’s briefing. “We need to continue to care for ourselves and our neighbors during the holidays by staying home if you are ill, good hand washing, limiting contact with people outside of your household, and wearing a mask when you can not maintain at least 6 (feet) of distance.”
The briefing states most of Missouri’s allotment of the Moderna vaccine is being directed to long-term care facilities and those immunizations in Pettis County will be provided through Walgreens.
The Health Center is an approved vaccination site and will be ordering vaccines as soon as the state moves to vaccinating those in the 1B category. The immunization plan will be by appointment, although appointments can not be made until the Health Center knows how much of the vaccine will be received and when it will be delivered.
The number of people being tested locally for COVID-19 seems to have decreased, but the Health Center stressed that “the need for testing continues” and encouraged people with concerns about cost to contact Bothwell Regional Health Center or Katy Trail Community Health.
According to the briefing, new research indicates people do not need to be as focused on continually disinfecting surfaces as there is no evidence of transmission from surfaces in normal conditions; the original testing was done under laboratory conditions. Research in hospitals where COVID positive patients are being cared for has not been able to identify virus capable of causing disease. The briefing states the best way to slow the spread of the virus continues to be wearing a mask, avoiding crowds and washing your hands.
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services reported a seven-day total of 12,709 cases on Monday or an average of 1,816 per day. There were a total of 50 deaths attributed to COVID-19 in Missouri during the last seven days, representing an average of seven deaths per day.
