Pettis County added 50 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, bringing the total number of cases to 3,798, according to the Pettis County Health Center.
There are now 820 active cases and 2,936 residents have been released to normal activity. Twenty-four residents are now hospitalized seeking treatment for the virus. The Health Center also reported two additional COVID-19 deaths, bringing the county’s total to 42.
According to the Pettis County COVID-19 Task Force briefing issued Tuesday, there have been 461 cases in the last two weeks as of noon Dec. 14. The briefing states Pettis County ranks as the eighth-highest county in Missouri with the number of cases per 100,000. The positivity rate for the week of Dec. 1-7 is 20.25%, which the briefing notes is an improvement although the number of hospitalizations and deaths continues to increase.
The Health Center is partnering with Bothwell Regional Health Center and Katy Trail Community Health to prepare for the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine. The Health Center will communicate with the community about where vaccines will be available as more information is available.
“The release of the Pfizer vaccine is an important step toward ending the pandemic and the changes that the pandemic has caused for our community,” the Health Center stated in the briefing. “We are developing the plans for immunization for the community. Even though this is a good start, we will need to continue to do the preventative steps for a while longer, but the end is much closer now. Please be patient and listen for additional information.”
Based on the public health warning issued by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, Pettis County is an extreme risk county. The parameters for being an extreme risk county are a PCR 7-day positivity rate of 15% or above and a seven-day case rate per 100,000 of 350 or above.
DHSS recommends occupancy limits in businesses to reflect social distancing (a minimum of 6 feet between customers or tables), limiting social groups to 10 or less (a social group is defined as any planned or spontaneous event or gathering that would bring together a group of people in a single space at the same time, excluding normal business activities, religious services, schools and school activities and extended family gatherings) and masks strongly advised in all offices and businesses where social distancing is not possible. Masks are still required in Pettis County.
DHSS reported a seven-day total of 19,493 cases on Tuesday or an average of 2,785 per day. There were a total of 95 deaths attributed to COVID-19 in Missouri during the last seven days, representing an average of 14 deaths per day.
