Increasing by nearly 1,500 on Friday, August 28, the total number of positive cases of COVID-19 surpassed 80,000 in the state since the start of the pandemic.

According to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, the total number of positive cases was 80,992- up from 79,574 on Thursday, August 27.

The number of COVID-19-related deaths jumped by 14 from 1,450 on Thursday to 1,464 on Friday. However, DHSS does not report how many positive patients have recovered.

DHSS expects the next update to take place at 2 p.m. on Saturday, August 29.