As of Monday, August 9, there were a total of 6,064 positive cases of COVID-19 in Pettis County since the beginning of the pandemic, compared to 5,880 cases on August 2 and 5,681 on July 26.

The DHSS website is reporting Pettis County has a positivity rate of 18.5 percent for the past seven days as compared to 18.2 percent last week with PCR testing. There were 852 PCR tests and 491 antigen tests in the past seven days.

According to minutes from the Pettis County COVID-19 Task Force meeting on Monday, August 9, there are 25 individuals hospitalized at Bothwell Regional Health Center as compared to 14 last week. All the ICU beds are occupied by individuals with COVID, and seven are on a ventilator.

Pettis County Health Center officials say the Delta variant from India is now significant majority of the cases in the U.S. According to the DHSS Health Alert, the presenting symptoms of the Delta variant are most often headache, followed by runny nose and sore throat, while fever and cough are less common; and loss of smell is not in the top 10.

Free COVID testing is scheduled to be available from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday, August 16, at Thompson Hills Shopping Center and from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday, August 23, at the VIP tent at the Missouri State Fairgrounds.