Coronavirus cases taking toll on health officials in area

Some public health officials are becoming overwhelmed with the recent surge in COVID-19 cases.

According to a Scott County Health Department social media post, updating virus statistics is taking a back seat to contacting those who have tested positive for the virus.

"Due to the continued increase in the number of positive COVID cases in Scott County, we are unable to call each and every positive case. Please be patient as we try to call as many positives as we can. Our phone lines are inundated with calls. Our COVID data reporting may also be delayed. We are working on the positive school-aged children first," the post states.

Scott County officials, like health officials in other nearby counties, have stopped updating virus numbers daily, usually updating the county's numbers three times a week. Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center posts statistical updates three times each week. Bollinger and Stoddard counties in Missouri update their numbers every few days, while Perry County issues a weekly update.

Cape Girardeau County's virus count increased 201 over the weekend, for a total of 11,872 cases. The county's virus-related death toll remained at 146. As of Monday, there were 375 active cases in the county.

On Monday, health officials in Stoddard County, increased the county's virus death toll to 90, up five from 10 days ago. They also reported 4,659 total virus cases, up 292 in the past 10 days. Active cases in the county as of Monday were 184.

Active cases and on-campus quarantine numbers continued to go down at Southeast Missouri State University. As of Monday, active cases dropped from 69 to 67 (65 students and two employees). Sixteen people were in on-campus quarantine, down from 18 the previous day.