Hospitals in Missouri’s Bootheel region filling with critically ill COVID-19 patients

Missouri’s surge in COVID-19 cases appears to be moving to the Bootheel region of the state, with hospitals in southeast Missouri filling with patients, many of them critically ill.

Meanwhile, the state health department on Tuesday reported 170 additional deaths, bringing to 10,376 the number of Missourians who have succumbed to the virus since the onset of the pandemic.

Southwestern Missouri has been the epicenter of this summer’s outbreak of COVID-19. But since the delta variant of the virus began its rampage in June, cases have spread across the state.

Information on Missouri’s COVID-19 dashboard shows that six of the 12 counties with the highest seven-day rates of new cases are in the southeast — Scott, New Madrid, Mississippi, Madison, Jackson and Perry counties.

Cape Girardeau’s two hospitals are treating a combined 76 COVID-19 patients, including 24 in intensive care units, according to information from St. Francis Medical Center and Southeast Hospital.

Statewide, of the 170 newly reported deaths, 143 were the result of a weekly review of death certificates. The state health department said one of those deaths was in May, two were in June, 35 were in July and 105 were earlier in August. The state also cited 27 new deaths, and 1,770 newly confirmed cases. Missouri has reported 618,022 COVID-19 cases overall.

This story was originally published August 24, 2021 at 3:31 PM.