Cape Girardeau County records first COVID-19 death; positive cases rise to 24

COVID-19’s intrusion into life in Cape Girardeau and the surrounding area became more poignant Tuesday as officials with the county’s Public Health Center reported the first death because of the virus.

The only detail released on Cape Girardeau County resident was the person was between 80 and 89 years old. No other information about the person was released because of medical privacy laws, officials said in a release.

The death was the 54th attributed to COVID-19 in Missouri, with the largest concentration of deaths in the state being in St. Louis County. As of Wednesday, 58 Missouri residents had died from the disease, and 3,327 positive cases have been reported in the state. More than 38,000 state residents have been tested for the disease.

The local death came 38 days after the first U.S. death attributed to COVID-19. The 1,000th death in the country came March 26. That number doubled in two days. As of Wednesday afternoon, 14,556 people had died from the disease, while 23,198 had recovered. A total of 427,118 cases have been reported in the country. The first COVID-19 case in the United States was reported Jan. 22.

The first COVID-19 case in the county was reported March 24. In Cape Girardeau County, 24 positive cases have been reported. Five of those patients remain hospitalized and have recovered.

As of Wednesday afternoon, COVID-19 statistics reported by Cape Girardeau County health care providers:

• Saint Francis Medical Center: 11 positive cases, 431 negative test results, 677 tests administered;
• Southeast Hospital: four positive cases, 150 negative test results, 186 tests administered;
• Cross Trails Medical Center: zero positive cases, 28 negative test results, 30 tests administered;
• Others: nine positive cases.

Of the positive cases in the county, 14, 58%, involve male patients. Seventy-five percent of the cases involve patients 50 years of age and older. Exposure to the coronavirus came from close contact with an infected person in seven cases and through travel in another seven cases. The origin of the disease is unknown in the remaining 10 cases. Thirteen of the cases involve residents of Jackson; eight are residents of Cape Girardeau; and three reside elsewhere in the county.

Positive cases in surrounding Missouri counties are:

• Bollinger, 3
• Perry, 30
• Scott, 11
• Stoddard, 8.

In Illinois, Neither Union County nor Alexander County have reported a positive case.