If you thought COVID cases were rising in southwest Missouri, you would be correct. KRPS’s Fred Fletcher-Fierro has more.

According to data available online at Joplin’s COVID-19 dashboard, the city has experienced an over 123% increase in cases over the past two weeks. This weekend the Centers for Disease Control estimated that more than half of new and reinfections were due to the highly transmissible B.A.5 variant.

Although more people are getting infected with B.A.5, fewer people are dying of the virus due to being vaccinated and boosted, and previous infections have created a higher immunity. The bad news is that if you were infected with the original Omicron strain last winter, you could be reinfected.

According to the state health department, Jasper country is one of four southwest Missouri countries that currently rank high for community transmission levels.