SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) – The Springfield-Greene County Health Department reported 37 more COVID-19-related deaths on Wednesday. 24 of the 37 deaths reported in the last week occurred in December; 13 occurred in January.
Kathryn Wall, of the Springfield-Greene County Health Department, said the reason for the delay in the notification is because a thorough investigation must be completed to determine the involvement of COVID-19 in each death.
“This idea that anyone who dies with COVID-19 is considered a death with COVID-19 is not the case,” said Wall. “We count as COVID-19 deaths only those who discovered that COVID-19 was a substantial reason for their death.”
Health leaders listed the victims:
- A man in his 40s who had no underlying health problems
- Two men in their fifties
- A man in his 60s
- A woman in her 60s
- Four men in their 70s
- Two women in their 70s
- Ten men in their 80s
- Six women in their 80s
- Five men in their 90s
- Three women in their 90s
- A man in his 100s
- A woman in her 100s
“We continue to hear this misconception that this is just something, a disease, that is affecting those who are very old or very sick,” said Wall. “This week’s figures reflected that this is not the case and we need people to remember to take this seriously. “
Wall said that while the number of deaths in January so far is less than the number recorded in the first 20 days of December, it does not necessarily mean that the virus is decreasing.
“It is a difficult thing to point out and feel confident because deaths are an indicator of delay,” said Wall. “We don’t know for a long time, if someone tested positive and what happened as a result.”
Local hospitals are reporting fewer hospitalizations for COVID-19 at the moment. CoxHealth CEO Steve Edwards tweeted on Wednesday that Cox’s Springfield locations have less than 100 COVID-19 patients currently hospitalized.
Mercy Hospital told KY3 that it has 55 patients with COVID-19 hospitalized on Wednesday. This is almost half of what the hospital reported to KY3 in late December.
“Ideally, our hope is because we are starting to see these numbers of cases drop, we are starting to see these hospitalizations drop, this is an indicator that these deaths will also decrease, but we simply cannot be sure.” Wall said.
She said the health department is hopeful that the vaccine is already having an impact, but wants people to know that they should not let their guard down yet.
Wall said we are about a week from the one-year anniversary of the health department’s first COVID-19 press release. At that time, they were preparing for when the virus arrived in Missouri. Now, they are working on plans to distribute the vaccine to the public.
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