For the first time in over a month, officials at Freeman Health System in Joplin will provide a COVID-19 briefing this morning. KRPS’s Fred Fletcher-Fierro has more.

According to the Joplin COVID-19 Dashboard at AllThingsMissoui.org, as of Wednesday, cases were down 28.95% from where they were two weeks ago. To compare, on January 12, the Joplin Health Department reported a 75% increase in cases or 714 new confirmed cases.

As of Wednesday, over the previous 14-days, the health department has confirmed only 260 new cases. Freeman reported a rise in the number of COVID patients as 2021 came to an end. In late December, the hospital system reported 23 COVID-19 patients; that figure increased to 35 about five weeks ago. This morning at 11, Freeman will live stream their press conference on their Facebook page. For 89 9 KRPS, I’m Fred Fletcher-Fierro