Pettis County added 34 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Monday, bringing the total number of cases to 4,473, according to the Pettis County Health Center.
There are now 378 active cases and 4,029 residents have been released to normal activity. Eight residents are now hospitalized seeking treatment for the virus.
This is an increase of 209 cases in the past week and 396 cases in the past two weeks. The positivity rate for the month of December was 21.67%. The positivity rate for the week of Jan. 1-7 was 20.09% and the rate was 441.67 per 100,000. Jan. 4 was the date with 70 positive cases, which was the largest for the week.
In the Pettis County COVID-19 Task Force briefing issued Monday, the Health Center stated it is developing a pre-registration process to determine how many people are interested in receiving the vaccine as the Health Center prepares for the state of Missouri to expand to Phase 1B of vaccination. At this time, vaccines are not available to people in that category; the state remains focused on Phase 1A, which is frontline healthcare workers and people in long-term care facilities. When vaccines are available for the next phase, which includes essential workers and those age 65 and older, the Health Center will notify those who pre-registered of their appointment time. There will be multiple vaccination sites.
The briefing states the pre-registration form will be on the Health Center website and paper copies will be distributed in various areas of the county. Online forms should be emailed to pettisvaccine@gmail.com. Paper forms should be returned to the Health Center by faxing to 660-827-1141, mailing to 911 E. 16th St., or dropped off between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. For those without access to email or a paper form, people can call the Health Center at 660-827-1130 to register. Residents are asked to be patient as there are limited phone lines available and employees are continuing to do case investigation.
According to information from Bothwell in the briefing, eligible clinic patients (high-risk individuals 18-64 and individuals over 65) will be notified as vaccines become available. Bothwell continues to follow the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services and federal guidelines on vaccine administration as it receives doses of the vaccine.
For more information on vaccines in Missouri, visit www.covidvaccine.mo.gov.
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services reported a seven-day total of 19,496 cases on Monday or an average of 2,785 per day. There were a total of 47 deaths attributed to COVID-19 in Missouri during the last seven days, representing an average of seven deaths per day.
