Missouri health agency reports 180 additional deaths related to COVID-19
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services announced Monday that 180 previously unreported deaths caused by COVID-19 would be added to its statewide public health database.
The Bureau of Vital Records, a division of the health agency, routinely examines death certificates for fatal cases not reported to state officials. The COVID-19 deaths identified through this method will be reflected on Tuesday in the state’s public health dashboard, according to a press release from DHSS.
The newly identified COVID-19 deaths date back three months. Most occurred in December, which saw another 160. One was added in September, one in October and 18 in November.
The state health agency updates its public health dashboard each week with death certificate reviewed cases. Last week, 153 were added, and another 114 were added the week before that.
There have been 13,125 deaths associated with COVID-19 in Missouri since the pandemic began, according to public health data. In the U.S., there have been 56 million reported cases and 827,726 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Meanwhile, total COVID-19 cases in the Kansas City metropolitan have surged with the emergence of the omicron variant.
As of Thursday, there were 2,190 new cases reported across Jackson, Platte, Clay, Johnson and Wyandotte counties. But the Kansas City Health Department predicted a much higher increase — possibly as large as 10 times that amount — based on an increased demand for COVID-19 testing.
The Star’s Anna Spoerre and Natalie Wallington contributed to this report.
This story was originally published January 3, 2022 at 7:58 PM.
