KSMU Coronavirus Coverage

Four more Taney County residents have died of COVID-19.  They were a woman in her 60s, a man and woman in their 70s and a man in his 80s, according to the Taney County Health Department.

There have been 38 Taney County residents who have died of COVID-19 since the pandemic began.

TCHD director, Lisa Marshall, said in a news release that prevention is extremely important as we head into winter and the holiday season.

Update:  The Springfield-Greene County Health Department has released more information about the latest deaths of Greene County residents from COVID-19.  They were a man in his 40s, a man and woman in their 60s, four woman and three men in their 70s, three men and two women in their 80s and two women in their 90s.

Original story:  Seventeen more Greene County lives have been lost to COVID-19.  That's the highest one-day total to date.

Mercy will begin offering virtual COVID-19 care at home to help meet the demand for hospital beds as the coronavirus continues to spread.

Mercy COVID Care @ Home will offer remote, in-home care for patients with mild symptoms or who may need low-flow rates of oxygen, according to the healthcare system.  The 24-hour care will include measurement of oxygen saturation and adjusting oxygen flow as necessary.

Three more Greene County residents have died of COVID-19. According to the Springfield-Greene County Health Department, they were a man in his 60s, a woman in her 60s and a woman in her 90s.  So far, 199 Greene County residents have died of COVID-19.

As of Wednesday morning, the county had a total of 15,490 reported COVID-19 cases, and 3,728 were active.  There were 228 in Springfield hospitals with the illness, and 63 were in critical care.  One hundred and four were from Greene County.

Greene County continues to break records for the number of people hospitalized for COVID-19.  As of Tuesday morning, there were 237 people in Springfield hospitals, and 57 of them were in critical care.  One hundred and seven of those hospitalized were from Greene County.

The number of reported COVID-19 cases in Greene County increased by 214 on Tuesday.  There was a total of 15,325 cases, and 3,642 were active.  There have been 196 deaths from COVID-19 in the county.

A free COVID-19 community testing event will be held Thursday, December 3, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Friday, December 4, from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Ozark Empire Fairgrounds in Springfield.  Another testing event will be held Saturday, December 5, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Ozark Christian College in Joplin.  And a community testing event will take place Monday, December 7, from noon to 6 p.m. at the Webster County Fairgrounds in Marshfield. The testing is being held by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services and the Missouri National Guard.

Branson Board of Aldermen meetings are moving to a virtual-only format.  According to city officials in a news release, that’s because of “the continuing increase of COVID-19 cases in Taney County.”

The next scheduled meeting is Monday, December 8.

The public can watch the meetings at bransonmo.gov/livestream at 6 p.m. the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month.

The Springfield-Greene County Health department is offering tips to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 during athletic events and organized activities.

The guidance can be found at health.springfieldmo.gov/playsafely.  It provides information on how to safely engage in sports as teams and organizations transition into the winter months and indoor play, according to the City of Springfield in a news release.  “

Greene County has topped 15,000 in the number of reported cases of COVID-19.  As of Monday morning, the Springfield-Greene County Health Department’s Dashboard had the total number of cases at 15,111.  Of those, 3,565 were active. 

The number of hospitalized patients in Springfield hit an all-time high at 228, and 58 were in critical care.  Less than half of those hospitalized were from Greene County.  The total number of Greene County residents hospitalized Monday was 109.

As of Monday, November 30, Springfield Public Schools are following modified quarantine guidance issued by the Springfield-Greene County Health Department.

The guidance, for grades K-12, is a follow up to guidance issued recently by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, according to a news release from SPS.

Indoor spaces at Missouri State Parks are closed.

The Department of Natural Resources made the decision last week to prevent the spread of COVID-19.  The closures include visitor centers, nature centers, museums and offices.  Park and historic site outdoor spaces and amenities remain open during normal hours.  You can still stay in lodging at state parks, including at campgrounds, and boat ramps and trails are open.

Before you head to a state park in Missouri, you can find out what’s open at mostateparks.com.

Greene County is nearing 200 deaths from COVID-19.  As of Friday, the latest day for which numbers are available, there were 196 deaths in the county.  Five were announced on Friday.  They were a man in his 50s, a man in his 70s, a woman in her 70s, a woman in her 80s and a man in his 90s.  Forty-two of the deaths have been in November.

There had been a total of 14,665 cases of COVID-19 in Greene County, and 3,259 were active.

On Friday, Springfield’s two main hospital systems, Mercy and CoxHealth, issued a stark warning to the public:  they’re full, due to a wave of COVID-19 patients, and that’s starting to impact non-COVID patients, too.

At a press conference Friday, health officials said hospitalizations have skyrocketed this week. Hospitals have begun to shuffle dates of elective surgeries to maximze staffing, but the lack of beds and staffing are affecting emergency and acute care, too.