Nine area deaths attributed to coronavirus

Area health officials reported nine COVID-19-related deaths Tuesday and Wednesday.

Six of the deaths were in Cape Girardeau County, while Scott and Bollinger counties in Missouri and Union County, Illinois, each attributed one death to the disease associated with coronavirus.

The deaths in Cape Girardeau County pushed the death toll of the virus to 40. The death in Scott County was its 20th, and the Bollinger County fatality was its second. Union County has recorded 21 COVID-19 deaths.

Officials with Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center reported 85 new virus cases (Monday, 12; Tuesday, 33; and Wednesday, 39). Roughly two out of every three new cases in the county are in Cape Girardeau, with the rest divided between Jackson and elsewhere in the county. Active virus cases dropped by 92 on Tuesday to 480.

Cases in the county’s long-term care facilities grew by 16 to 246, with 90 of those active. Thus far in the pandemic, 28 county residents have died of the virus in such facilities.

The new cases pushed the county’s total case count to 2,506, while 1,954 county residents have recovered from the disease.

Southeast Missouri State University reported six new cases, pushing its total to 335 (307 students and 28 employees). Eighty-nine active cases (77 students and 12 employees) were reported on campus. Those in on-campus isolation/quarantine totaled 45, down from the 70 noted Friday.

Scott County officials reported a steady stream of new virus cases over the past several days — Friday, 40; Saturday, 40; Sunday, 20; Monday, 25; Tuesday, 25; Wednesday, 42 — pushing the county’s total number of cases to 1,247. Nine hundred nineteen county residents have recovered from the virus.

Bollinger County added 41 new cases (31 Tuesday and 10 Wednesday) for a total of 564 cases, with 452 recoveries.

Elsewhere in Missouri, Perry County’s numbers increased by 44 from its last report, though the numbers included new cases for several days (820 total cases, 760 recoveries, seven deaths).

Stoddard County Public Health Center reported 83 new cases (832 total cases, 627 recoveries, 18 deaths).

Southern Seven Health Department in Illinois reported 65 new cases in Union County in recent days (666 total cases, 432 recoveries) and four new cases in Alexander County (98 total cases, 62 recoveries, one death).