COVID-19-related deaths top 150 as total cases surge past 5,000 in Missouri
Five more people have died from complications related to the coronavirus in Missouri, raising the total number of COVID-19 deaths to 152, according to the latest statistics from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
Missouri also saw the number of people who have tested positive for the coronavirus rise by 216 new cases. As of Thursday, 5,111 people have tested positive for the disease, up from 4,895 reported on Wednesday.
Of the confirmed COVID-19 cases, 651 patients are currently hospitalized, up 57 patients in the past 24 hours, according to statistics from the Missouri Hospital Association. Nearly 400 more patients are currently being investigated for COVID-19, a decrease of 38 patients from the day before.
Hospitals reported the availability of medical surgical beds and several hundred intensive care unit beds. However, dozens of hospitals continue to report shortages of personal protection equipment and testing materials, including N95 masks, surgical masks, face shields and exam gloves, according to the hospital association.
The areas hardest hit by the virus include St. Louis County, which had 2,026 cases; St. Louis with 706; St. Charles with 405; Kansas City with 386, and Jackson County with 260.
The number of cases in Kansas City increased by 15 and the number of cases in Jackson County increased by 17 from Wednesday.
At 66 deaths, St. Louis County has seen the largest number of people die of complications from COVID-19. That’s up three from Wednesday’s total. St. Louis has seen 20 deaths.
St. Charles County has reported 12 deaths, followed by Kansas City, which has had 11 deaths. Jackson County has eight deaths, while Greene County has seven people who have died from the disease. Cass County has reported four deaths. Franklin and Jefferson counties each have had three deaths.
Bates, Boone, Buchanan, Callaway, Camden, Cape Girardeau, Carter, Clay, Cole, Dunklin, Henry, Lafayette, Lincoln, Linn, Pulaski, St. Francois, Ste. Genevieve and Taney counties have each reported one death.
The largest number of deaths, 56, are among people who were in the 80s or older. That is followed by those in their 70s with 42 deaths, and those in their 60s with 32 deaths. Those in their 50s accounted for 15 deaths. Meanwhile, those in their 30s and 40s accounted for a combined total of seven deaths.
Approximately 50,432 people have been tested for the virus in Missouri. That’s more than three times the number of tests conducted by Kansas, according to data provided by health officials.
Kansas has tested more than 16,100 people, with 14,534 of the test returning negative, according to statistics released Thursday by state health officials.
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Kansas grew to a total of 1,588, an increase of 94 cases from the 1,494 reported Wednesday.
As of Thursday, 80 people have died from the disease in Kansas, up from 76 reported the day before. So far, 359 people have been hospitalized with the disease.
Nationally, 653,825 people have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to statistics from Johns Hopkins University. Nearly 31,000 people have died from complications relating to COVID-19 as of Thursday afternoon.
This story was originally published April 16, 2020 at 3:54 PM.
