On Monday, the city of Joplin held their bi-weekly COVID-19 update as the number of active cases continues to increase. This Thursday will mark the one-month anniversary of the mask mandate in Joplin not being extended by the Joplin city council. Over the weekend, the health department recorded a record level of cases with 197, as of Monday afternoon, that number has now receded to 190 cases. There are currently 316 people also in quarantine.

Joplin Mayor Ryan Stanley “I think we’re at the highest level of cases I can remember us having. In talking to the hospitals, the hospitals are maintaining around 47 people hospitalized. Of which 29 are in the medical-surgical unit, and then 17 are in ICU.” This past weekend Missouri, which has had no statewide health in place since June, surpassed 100,000 total confirmed coronavirus cases with 1,705 COVID-19 related deaths.