Missouri surpasses 4,000 COVID-related deaths as cases exceed 300,000 across the state
The number of people who have died from COVID-19 in Missouri shot past 4,000 Tuesday after state health officials added 138 previously unreported deaths, according to updated data from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
The number of COVID-19 related deaths in Missouri stands at 4,006 as of Tuesday’s update. The number of people testing positive for the coronavirus also surpassed a grim milestone: 302,691 cases, up from 299,762 reported on Monday.
Of the 138 unreported deaths, 25 of them occurred in October and the remaining 113 deaths occurred in November.
“As a reminder, not all deaths reported each day occurred in the previous 24 hours,” Lisa Cox, communications director for the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, said in news release. “Once DHSS reports a death we have been made aware of, the death is assigned on the date that the death occurred, not when it was reported.”
Since the pandemic began in March, 290 Kansas Citians and 183 Jackson County residents have died from the disease, according to Missouri health officials. Kansas City reports numbers separate from Jackson County. Clay and Platte counties have seen 73 and 17 COVID-19 related deaths, respectively.
At 975 deaths, St. Louis County has been the hardest hit, followed by Kansas City and then St. Louis City at 235 deaths. With 218 deaths, St. Charles County was the only other county above 200 deaths.
The health department is reporting that it had 60 deaths over the past seven days for an average of nine a day. The number of new cases during that time period was just shy of 20,000, for a daily average of 2,817 people testing positive for the virus. The seven-day positivity rate was 20.5%, up from 20.3% for the previous seven-day period.
Nearly 2,600 patients were hospitalized with COVID-19 in Missouri, according to the latest data available. Of that total, 656 patients were in the ICU and 344 patients were on ventilators.
Remaining total hospital bed capacity, which included inpatient and outpatient beds, stood at 49% with remaining inpatient bed capacity at 28%. Remaining ICU bed capacity was at 20% while remaining ventilator capacity was at 64%.
As of October, Missouri has more than 22,000 hospital beds, including over 2,700 ICU beds. Hospitals have over 2,300 ventilators, and the state stockpile has an additional 240 ventilators, according to health officials.
In the Kansas City metro area, 590 patients were hospitalized with COVID-19, with 135 patients in ICU and 86 on ventilators.
Remaining total hospital bed capacity was at 37% while remaining inpatient bed capacity was at 25%. Remaining ICU bed capacity was at 18% while remaining ventilator capacity was 69%.
Kansas confirmed 157,446 cases including 1,560 deaths Monday. There were 854 hospitalizations with 39% of ICU beds available. The monthly positive test rate was 18.4%.
Across the country, more than 13.5 million people have contracted the virus and 268,434 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.
This story was originally published December 1, 2020 at 10:45 AM.
