Later this week, Missouri will likely surpass 2,200 COVID-19 related deaths since the first cases was reported in early February. K R P S’s Fred Fletcher-Fierro has more.   

Missouri has averaged about 271 COVID-19 related deaths per month for the first 8 months of the pandemic. That’s according to the latest data from the Missouri Department of Health on Sunday. To put that into context, since last Friday when M D H last updated their website, for the previous week, 44 Missourians died of COVID-19 related symptoms. That number does not include deaths this past weekend. Another sign that Missouri continues to have difficulty coping with the pandemic is the states high positivity rate, which stands at 14 percent.  In comparison, according to data from John Hopkins University coronavirus resource center, New York state has a rolling 7-day average of 1-point 2 percent positivity rate. At one point in mid-April, the state reported an over 50 percent COVID-19 positive test rate. Meanwhile, Arkansas has about a 4 and 5 percent positivity rate, 10-percentage points lower than neighboring Missouri. For K R P S, I’m Fred Fletcher-Fierro in Webb City