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SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) – The Springfield-Greene County Health Department reported 37 additional COVID-19-related deaths on Wednesday. 24 of the 37 deaths reported last week were in December; 13 took place in January.
Kathryn Wall, of the Springfield-Greene County Department of Health, said the reason for the delay in reporting was that a full investigation needed to be done to determine the involvement of COVID-19 in each death.
“This idea that anyone who dies with COVID-19 is considered a COVID-19 death, it is not,” Wall said. “We only count as COVID-19 deaths those for whom COVID-19 was a substantial reason for their death.”
Health officials have listed the victims:
- A man in his forties who had no underlying health problems
- Two men in their fifties
- A man in his sixties
- A woman in her sixties
- Four men in their sixties
- Two women in their sixties
- Ten men in the 80s
- Six women in their 80s
- Five men in the 90s
- Three women in their 90s
- A man in his hundred
- A woman in her hundred
“We keep hearing this misconception that it’s just something, a disease, that affects those who are very old or very sick,” Wall said. “This week’s numbers reflect that is not the case and we need people to remember to take this seriously. “
Wall said that if the death toll in January so far is lower than the number recorded in the first 20 days of December, that doesn’t necessarily mean the virus is dissipating.
“It’s a hard thing to pinpoint and feel confident about because deaths are a lagging indicator,” Wall said. “We haven’t known for a long time who has tested positive and what happened as a result.
Local hospitals are currently reporting fewer hospitalizations related to COVID-19. CoxHealth CEO Steve Edwards tweeted Wednesday that Cox’s Springfield sites have fewer than 100 COVID-19 patients hospitalized right now.
Mercy Hospital tells KY3 that it hospitalized 55 patients with COVID-19 on Wednesday. This is almost half of what the hospital reported to KY3 at the end of December.
“Ideally our hope is that because we start to see the number of cases go down we start to see these hospitalizations go down that is an indicator that these deaths will be reduced as well, but we just can’t be sure. Wall said.
She said the health department hoped the vaccine was already having an impact, but wanted people to know they shouldn’t let their guard down just yet.
Wall said we were about a week away from the first anniversary of the Department of Health’s first COVID-19 press release. At that time, they were preparing for the arrival of the virus in Missouri. Now they are working on plans to distribute the vaccine to the public.
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