Pettis County added 92 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Monday, bringing the total number of cases to 3,089, according to the Pettis County Health Center.
There are now 855 active cases and 2,204 residents have been released to normal activity. Twenty-four residents are now hospitalized seeking treatment for the virus.
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services reported a seven-day total of 23,668 cases on Monday or an average of 3,381 per day. There were a total of 65 deaths attributed to COVID-19 in Missouri during the last seven days, representing an average of nine deaths per day.
According to information in Monday’s Pettis County COVID-19 Task Force briefing, as of noon Nov. 23, there are 3,089 cases as compared to 2,719 cases on Nov. 16 and 2,424 cases on Nov. 9. This is an increase of 370 cases in the past week and 665 cases in the past two weeks.
The positivity rate for the week of Nov. 8-14 is 40.37% and the rate is 880.98 per 100,000.
According to the briefing, “Based upon 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 7 day case rate per 100,000 of 350 or above.
“Pettis County far exceeds these thresholds,” the statement noted. “The recommendations from the guidance include 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 (although still required in Pettis County) in all offices and businesses where social distancing is not possible.”
Due to the large number of cases the Health Center has received, they are no longer able to call all positive cases within several days of receiving the notification. PCHC also is not receiving information from testing sites outside of the county in a timely manner. Therefore, anyone who receives a positive test result from the place where they are tested is to remain in isolation for 10 days from the test.
According to PCHC, isolation means no close contact with anyone in your household including sleeping arrangements. If individuals can not remain separate, then everyone must wear a mask when within 6 feet of each other. If that is not possible, then the quarantine for household members will begin at the end of the 10-day isolation for the positive case. Health center staff members will call you within the 10 day period of isolation. Those who do not hear from the Health Center after 10 days are asked to call the health center as they may not have been notified of your test result.
Additional instructions on how to receive information for employers/school is available at www.pettiscountyhealthcenter.com and the PCHC Facebook page.
More than 200 people were tested at the Community Testing program on Friday, Nov. 20 at the Missouri State Fairgrounds.
