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70% of Missouri adults have received first COVID vaccine dose

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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Seven in 10 of all Missouri adults have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, the state’s health department said Tuesday.

State health officials report 58.9% of the total population has received at least one dose of the vaccine. Approximately 70.1% of all adults 18 years of age and older have initiated the process.

According to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS), the state has recorded 745,170 cumulative cases of SARS-CoV-2—an increase of 2,470 positive cases (PCR testing only)—and 12,610 total deaths as of Thursday, Dec. 2, an increase of 8 over yesterday. That’s a case fatality rate of 1.69%.

It’s important to keep in mind that not all cases and deaths recorded occurred in the last 24 hours.

The state has administered 170,520 doses—including booster shots—of the vaccine in the last 7 days (this metric is subject to a delay, meaning the last three days are not factored in). The highest vaccination rates are among people over 65.

Vaccination is the safest way to achieve herd immunity. Herd immunity for COVID-19 requires 80% to 90% of the population to have immunity, either by vaccination or recovery from the virus.

The first doses were administered in Missouri on Dec. 13, 2020.

Joplin, St. Louis City, and Kansas City, as well as St. Louis, St. Charles, Boone, Atchison, and Jackson counties are the only jurisdictions in the state with at least 50% of their population fully vaccinated. Thirty-five other jurisdictions in the state are at least 40% fully vaccinated: Cole, Franklin, Greene, Cape Girardeau, Jefferson, Nodaway, Cass, Ste. Genevieve, Carroll, Andrew, Callaway, Gasconade, Christian, Benton, Adair, Clinton, Dade, Livingston, Ray, Lafayette, Montgomery, Shelby, Osage, Henry, Clay, Camden, Warren, Howard, Cooper, Phelps, Stone, St. Francois, Holt, and Chariton counties, as well as the city of Independence.

Month Cumulative case-fatality rate
on the final day of the month
March 2020 1.06%
April 2020 4.35%
May 2020 4.71%
June 2020 4.71%
July 2020 2.52%
August 2020 1.81%
September 2020 1.68%
October 2020 1.65%
November 2020 1.28%
December 2020 1.41%
January 2021 1.47%
February 2021 1.66%
March 2021 1.74%
April 2021 1.74%
May 2021 1.77%
June 2021 1.77%
July 2021 1.70%
August 2021 1.68%
September 2021 1.70%
October 2021 1.71%
November 2021 1.70%
(Source: Missouri Dept. of Health and Senior Services)

The Bureau of Vital Records at DHSS performs a weekly linkage between deaths to the state and death certificates to improve quality and ensure all decedents that died of COVID-19 are reflected in the systems. As a result, the state’s death toll will see a sharp increase from time to time. Again, that does not mean a large number of deaths happened in one day; instead, it is a single-day reported increase.

At the state level, DHSS is not tracking probable or pending COVID deaths. Those numbers are not added to the state’s death count until confirmed in the disease surveillance system either by the county or through analysis of death certificates.

The 7-day rolling average for cases in Missouri sits at 2,163; yesterday, it was 2,182. Exactly one month ago, the state rolling average was 817. 

The 10 days with the most reported cases occurred between Oct. 10, 2020, and Nov. 18, 2021.

Approximately 50.0% of all reported cases are for individuals 39 years of age and younger. The state has further broken down the age groups into smaller units. The 18 to 24 age group has 90,900 recorded cases, while 25 to 29-year-olds have 63,778 cases.

People 80 years of age and older account for approximately 41.8% of all recorded deaths in the state.

Month / Year Missouri COVID cases*
(reported that month)
March 2020 1,327
April 2020 6,235
May 2020 5,585
June 2020 8,404
July 2020 28,772
August 2020 34,374
September 2020 41,416
October 2020 57,073
November 2020 116,576
December 2020 92,808
January 2021 66,249
February 2021 19,405
March 2021 11,150
April 2021 12,165
May 2021 9,913
June 2021 12,680
July 2021 42,780
August 2021 60,275
September 2021 45,707
October 2021 33,855
November 2021 37,594
December 2021 15,138
(Source: Missouri Dept. of Health and Senior Services)

Missouri has administered 7,973,542 PCR tests for COVID-19 over the entirety of the pandemic and as of Dec. 6, 17.1% of those tests have come back positive. People who have received multiple PCR tests are not counted twice, according to the state health department.

According to the state health department’s COVID-19 Dashboard, “A PCR test looks for the viral RNA in the nose, throat, or other areas in the respiratory tract to determine if there is an active infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. A positive PCR test means that the person has an active COVID-19 infection.”

The Missouri COVID Dashboard no longer includes the deduplicated method of testing when compiling the 7-day moving average of positive tests. The state is now only using the non-deduplicated method, which is the CDC’s preferred method. That number is calculated using the number of tests taken over the period since many people take multiple tests. Under this way of tabulating things, Missouri has a 12.8% positivity rate as of Dec. 4. Health officials exclude the most recent three days to ensure data accuracy when calculating the moving average.

The 7-day positivity rate was 4.5% on June 1, 10.2% on July 1, and 15.0% on Aug. 1.

As of Nov. 29, Missouri is reporting 1,643 COVID hospitalizations and a rolling 7-day average of 1,522. The remaining inpatient hospital bed capacity sits at 17% statewide. The state’s public health care metrics lag behind by three days due to reporting delays, especially on weekends. Keep in mind that the state counts all beds available and not just beds that are staffed by medical personnel.

On July 6, the 7-day rolling average for hospitalizations eclipsed the 1,000-person milestone for the first time in four months, with 1,013 patients. The 7-day average for hospitalizations had previously been over 1,000 from Sept. 16, 2020, to March 5, 2021.

On Aug. 5, the average eclipsed 2,000 patients for the first time in more than seven months. It was previously over 2,000 from Nov. 9, 2020, to Jan. 27, 2021.

The 2021 low point on the hospitalization average in Missouri was 655 on May 29.

Across Missouri, 393 COVID patients are in ICU beds, leaving the state’s remaining intensive care capacity at 18%.

If you have additional questions about the coronavirus, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services is available at 877-435-8411.

As of Dec. 6, the CDC identified 49,002,475 cases of COVID-19 and 785,655 deaths across all 50 states and 9 U.S.-affiliated districts, jurisdictions, and affiliated territories, for a national case-fatality rate of 1.60%.

How do COVID deaths compare to other illnesses, like the flu or even the H1N1 pandemics of 1918 and 2009? It’s a common question.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), preliminary data on the 2018-2019 influenza season in the United States shows an estimated 35,520,883 cases and 34,157 deaths; that would mean a case-fatality rate of 0.09 percent. Case-fatality rates on previous seasons are as follows: 0.136 percent (2017-2018), 0.131 percent (2016-2017), 0.096 percent (2015-2016), and 0.17 percent (2014-2015).

The 1918 H1N1 epidemic, commonly referred to as the “Spanish Flu,” is estimated to have infected 29.4 million Americans and claimed 675,000 lives as a result; a case-fatality rate of 2.3 percent. The Spanish Flu claimed greater numbers of young people than typically expected from other influenzas.

Beginning in January 2009, another H1N1 virus—known as the “swine flu”—spread around the globe and was first detected in the US in April of that year. The CDC identified an estimated 60.8 million cases and 12,469 deaths; a 0.021 percent case-fatality rate.

For more information and updates regarding COVID mandates, data, and the vaccine, click here.

Two school districts are accepting applications for open school board positions

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SOUTHWEST, Mo. — The Neosho and Carthage school districts are accepting applications for open school board positions.

Neosho has two 3-year terms and two appointed one-year terms expiring in April.

Carthage has two 3-year terms and one two-year-term expiring in April.

Applications can be dropped off at either school during regular business hours.

The deadline for both is December 28th.

For a full list of the Neosho requirements click here.

For information on how to file for the Carthage school board click here.

The Lafayette House is in need of Christmas wish list items

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JOPLIN, Mo. — Lafayette House in Joplin could use some help fulfilling its Christmas wish list.

It’s not just games and toys the nonprofit is also in need of cleaning supplies, sheets, towels, socks, underwear and sweatpants for adults and children.

The facility provides women and children, who are experiencing domestic violence or substance abuse, a safe place to stay.

“The last several years we have had several families with children here on Christmas morning. So its nice to be able to provide them with some gifts to open while they’re here and make the day as celebratory and normal as possible,” said Louise Secker, Lafayette House Development Director.

Donations can be dropped off at the house during regular business hours.

It’s located at 1809 South Connor Avenue.

Parents as Teachers is helping families in McDonald County

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PINEVILLE, Mo. — An organization in McDonald County is helping families.

“McDonald County Parents as Teachers” helps families identify developmental delays and corrects them.

“There’s Play-Doh which of course is great fine motor for squeezing and pushing and pulling and making cookies with playdough. Your talking about colors and mixing colors,” said Dalana Fuller, McDonald County Parent Educator.

Tuesday night “Parents as Teachers” held its holiday family fun night at the Pineville Community Center.

“It gives us a chance for us to watch other children and parents with the children, but it also gives us a chance to see the kids and how they interact. And we are always looking for a delay or help a child become better at what they are doing and the parents also,” said Fuller.

Parents as Teachers is a free program that helps diagnose and correct developmental issues in children.

“It’s a home based program. So we go into the home and we play games with them, but we also give them developmental information. We talk about milestones, we do screenings for hearing and vision we do screenings for development so you can be on top of where your child is. Because unless you go to the doctor a lot of people don’t know what’s expected of their child at a certain age,” said Fuller.

The program helps 60 families a year.

“One of my daughters we found out she had a speech delay. It got to the point where you could hardly understand what she was saying when she was younger. And then we started to notice that certain letters weren’t forming correctly so that’s why we decided to get the help,” said Cassandra Scott, used P.A.T.

It took less than eight months of intervention at school to fix the problem.

“She is doing amazing in school. She is in fourth grade now. and she has excelled tremendously,” said Scott.

Tonight kids were given a free book and information on the programs offered in McDonald County.

To make an appointment with parents as teachers call McDonald County Central Office at (417) 845-3321.

Afghan refugees meet father of fallen Marine as they settle in St. Louis

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WENTZVILLE, Mo. — A group of Afghan refugees, who moved to St. Louis, recently met with the family of a fallen Marine from Wentzville.

Mark Schmitz lost his son after an attack at the Kabul airport while US troops were withdrawing from Afghanistan. Lance Corporal Jared Schmitz was one of 13 Marines killed in August.

A sense of gratitude filled the room as Mark met with two Afghan families settling in the area. The weight of the moment was not lost on either family, each ready to tell their stories.

Once sitting down, Haseeb, who formally served as a military translator, introduced everyone.

“As I came to the United States, I feel very comfortable seeing the peace and being in freedom,” said one of the refugees, Yama.“If you were rich or poor in Afghanistan, your life would be in a problem — but here it’s amazing, the peace and the freedom.”

Here, the kids are in school as the parents work full-time.

“We feel very happy,” said Mahooba, another refugee. “We feel very safe. We feel at home. We love it here. It’s amazing being in America with Americans, the loveliest people on earth.”

Despite the growing influx of refugees coming to St. Louis, 50 to 100 refugees land at lambert each week through the end of the year, according to the International Institute. The refugees who met with Mark still have family members in Afghanistan, whom they miss dearly.

“I want them here, but there are no chances for them,” said Haseeb. “It was only for us, that we serve, that we work with the U.S. military and people like Jared sacrificed for us to come here.”

It’s that sacrifice that brought them to Jared’s father, Mark.

“We believe strongly that he was a martyr, and that he was catapulted into heaven and that puts your heart at ease,” said Mark.

Now, the Schmitz family wants to help those like Jared, who put their lines on the line in Afghanistan and around the world.

“There’s no reason, I think, that ever should be a vet that is homeless, for what they did for this country. We are all are indebted to them,” said Schmitz. “This is best way I can think of right now is to pay it forward.”

The Veteran’s Curation Program plans to build 50 homes near a veteran’s hospital in St. Louis to help. The Schmitz family’s goal is to fundraise the money to build 13 in honor of the 13 fallen U.S. Soldiers including Jared.

Schmitz met with two other refugees that came to St. Louis in recent weeks. Those men and the families he met with for this story said they plan to pitch in.

“God bless you, Allah bless you,” said Haseeb. “Thank you.”

Funds are being raised via the foundation: http://www.stlheronetwork.com/help-a-hero

How supply chain issues have caused a headstone shortage

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JOPLIN, Mo. — Supply shortages are everywhere these days. One shortage is leaving some families looking for answers when a loved one passes away.

There’s always been a short lag time between laying a loved one to rest, and how long it takes for the headstone to be placed on the burial plot. That’s no longer the case, and yes, the pandemic is to blame.

“We just need our families in our community to know that yes, we’re doing everything that we can, it’s kind of out of our hands, so basically when a loved one needs to get their deceased loved one a headstone, just kind of be aware there is that six month minimum time frame to get it done, uh it used to take us much quicker, of course our turn around was sometimes less than a month.” says Joplin Granite Co. Manager, Eric Green.

Why so long?

Headstones are made out of granite, which has to be extracted from the ground, then get cut into shape, engraved, polished and eventually set in place. Eric Green says the pandemic has done a number on how long it takes that process to be completed.

“The quarries are having their problem with the worker shortage, uh we are having the problems with getting it from the quarries because of those reasons, and just the excessive because of the situation with COVID and the excessive deaths um yeah, it is a complete supply and demand issue.”

He says it could take two years for the process to go back to the pre-pandemic time frame, and because their suppliers have had to resort to transporting the stones out of the quarry themselves to cut out the transportation middle man, he says it may only be a matter of time before prices are affected.

“So currently, you could spend anywhere between 500 to a 1000 dollars for a stone, but if the supply and demand keep going the way it’s going, yes, that could significantly increase yes,” said Green.

In Joplin, Stuart Price, KSN Local News.

Four State residents remember Pearl Harbor ten years later

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CARTHAGE & JOPLIN.–Tuesday marks the eightieth anniversary of the attack on pearl harbor.

It’s one of the most pivotal moments of U.S history.

Michael Juris, commander at the Carthage VFW says their organization places an emphasis on ensuring veterans aren’t forgotten, especially on a day like this.

“That was 80 years ago, so not too many people are walking around right now that we’re actually there, that would put them at least 97 years old in that range”. Juris said,  “So yeah, there’s a lot of members and brothers and sisters who go out there because their sons and daughters do remember their fathers.”

Locally, we have those who did serve at pearl harbor.

Donald Anderson, a galena native, and world war two veteran is remembered by his daughter Dawn Anderson.

“He was in the navy and very, very proud to be in the navy,” his daughter said. 

Anderson passed away in twenty fourteen, and up until then, used his experiences to educate younger generations on the war. Now, his daughter Dawn carries on his memory to do that.

“All of this is is the pearl harbor location. I’m very blessed to have this. these are love letters. There’s a lot of love letters in here and back in the time of world war two. It was a very different time than it is now.”

Anderson’s family keeps a scrapbook of her dad’s time in the war–preserving his presence in history.

“I’m so honored because here my dad’s passed, but there will be nothing that he will be happier than to know I’m doing this memorial with this time because he loved as I said, the U.S Navy and he loved being in world war two…It was a very different time during World War Two. Pearl Harbor was really a tough time. He could tell you a lot more if he was here.”

COPYRIGHT 2021 BY KOAM NEWS NOW. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.

Leggett and Platt donates masks to Franklin Technology Center

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JOPLIN, Mo. — Leggett and Platt presented new safety equipment to the Franklin Technology Center in Joplin.

The company donated a total of 925 respirators masks, in a couple of sizes, and 250 filters.

COPYRIGHT 2021 BY KOAM NEWS NOW. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.

Diamond, MO man found guilty of shooting another man

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NEOSHO, Mo. – A jury in Newton County found a Diamond man guilty of shooting another man.

Authorities say, in 2019, Donald White went to a man’s house and started shooting the man’s vehicles with a shotgun.

Then when the man came outside, police say White shot the man as well.

That man survived.

White testified that he went to the house because his vehicle had been keyed.

White is convicted of second degree assault and armed criminal action.

He will be sentenced in mid-December.

Missouri task force looks to tackle supply chain issues

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SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A new Missouri task force is forming to address the ongoing supply chain crisis.

Gov. Mike Parson recently established the Missouri Supply Chain Task Force to better analyze how goods are being moved.

The task force will be co-chaired by the Director of the Missouri Department of Transportation and the Director of the Office of Workforce Development. Director of Workforce Development, Dr. Mardy Leathers, said they will be analyzing the supply chain problems from the labor, infrastructure, transportation, and distribution viewpoints.

“We have to make sure we have the workers to do the work, to move the goods and services around the state, but we have to have the systems and the infrastructure to make sure that we can also move those goods and services around the state effectively,” Leathers said.

Leathers said they plan on talking to numerous stakeholders directly to learn more about what they can do to resolve these ongoing problems.

“How do we increase access to CDL training?” Leathers asked. “Part of that means that we have to have the training, but another part of that means we have to have availability of testing. All of the testings go through the Highway Patrol. We’re partnering with the Highway Patrol to make sure they’re ready and able to take in this flood, potentially, of new CDL testers.”

This could mean, he said, looking at funding, training people to co-work with technology, and analyzing the hiring crisis as it relates to the supply chain.

“We are the crossroads of America,” Leathers said. “We have two major rivers, we have multiple major highways, we have a rail system that comes through us.”

After looking at the issue from multiple sides, Leathers said they’ll put together a report that will go to the governor with a list of recommendations.