The state of Missouri is nearing a new plateau is in its struggle to contain the coronavirus. K R P S’s Fred Fletcher-Fierro.
Within the next seven days, Missouri will record its 200,000 confirmed case of the coronavirus since the pandemic reached the state the first week of March. As of this morning, the Missouri Department of Health reported just over 193,000 cases of the disease. About half of the area’s counties remain in the top 10 for positivity rate in Southwest Missouri. Newton county continues to lead the state with a 25 percent positive rate. Meaning that for every 100 Newton county residents that test positive for COVID1-19, 25 are positive, regardless if they are showing symptoms of a asymptomatic. Jasper county is in a tie with two other counties with a 22 percent positive rate. McDonald and Barton counties are also in the top 10. In the past week, over 17,000 Missourians have tested positive for coronavirus, and 88 residents have died from complications of the disease.
