Cape County seeing a coronavirus 'spike'

Cape Girardeau County is seeing “increased community transmission” of COVID-19, Jane Wernsman, director of the county’s public health center, said Friday.

“We’re seeing a spike, yes,” Wernsman said.

Nearly three of every four active cases in the county, or 74%, are younger than 40.

On Sunday, the health department reported the 20 to 29 age demographic is responsible for the majority of the 132 active younger-than-40 cases, with a total of 82.

The 10 to 19 age group is second with 27 and people in their 30s are in third place with 20.

The results echo a report the county’s emergency management agency director, Mark Winkler, made to county commissioners June 11.

Winkler told the commission a shift to younger COVID-19 victims had occurred with people in their 20s emerging as the age group most vulnerable.

Wernsman reported Friday afternoon the percentage of “positivity,” meaning the rate of positive cases emerging from testing is 5.7%, slightly ahead of the State of Missouri’s 5.5% rate.

As of Friday, 7,904 people had been tested for the coronavirus, a figure Wernsman said amounts to approximately 10% of the county’s population.