The Springfield-Greene County Health Department is preparing to offer COVID-19 testing Wednesday and Thursday, December 22 and 23, as people get ready to gather for the holidays.
The Celebrate Safely Testing Event will be held from 7 a.m. to noon at the Health Department Vaccination Clinic, 1425 E. Battlefield. Appointments are required and can be made by calling 417-874-1211.
COVID-19 cases and deaths are increasing in Greene County. As of Monday afternoon, there had been 106 cases per day on a seven-day rolling average. There were 111 patients in Springfield hospitals, and 34 were in critical care, according to the health department's COVID-19 Dashboard. Fifty of those hospitalized were from Greene County.
On Friday, Steve Edwards, president and CEO of CoxHealth said on Twitter they had lost 19 patients to COVID-19 in the last week.
“Imagine a natural disaster that killed 19 people, the Governor and even President would likely visit. We should be careful not to normalize or marginalize these deaths, each is a tragic loss,” Edwards wrote.
A total of 637 Greene County residents has died of COVID-19.