Three virus-related deaths, nearly 200 new cases reported

Three additional COVID-19-related deaths were reported in the region Wednesday, and counties are reporting dozens of new cases each day.

Two of the deaths were in Cape Girardeau County, and one was in Scott County.

Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center officials reported 45 new cases Tuesday and 36 Wednesday, pushing the county’s total number of virus cases to 1,988. To date, 1,454 county residents have recovered from the disease associated with coronavirus, and 28 deaths have been attributed to it. As of Wednesday, there were 506 active cases in the county. Of the new cases, 56 were in Cape Girardeau, seven were in Jackson and 18 were elsewhere in the county. Thirty-three county residents were hospitalized with the virus Wednesday.

Southeast Missouri State University reported 38 new cases as of Wednesday, pushing its total case count to 259 (239 students and 20 employees). One hundred thirty of those cases are active, and 45 people are in on-campus quarantine/isolation.

Elsewhere in Missouri, Scott County reported 33 new cases Tuesday and Wednesday, pushing its total number of cases to 933, with 790 recoveries and 17 deaths.

Perry County reported 34 new cases since its last report (725 total cases, 681 recoveries, seven deaths).

Stoddard County reported 26 new cases (602 total cases, 477 recoveries, 18 deaths).

Bollinger County reported 19 new cases (452 total cases, 375 recoveries, one death). County health officials will host a community testing event from 7 a.m. to noon Oct. 10 at the health department, 107 Highway 51 North in Marble Hill. Visit www.bollingercountyhealth.org to register.

Southern Seven Health Department in Illinois reported 12 new cases in Union County (509 total cases, 397 recoveries, 20 deaths) and three new cases in Alexander County, 85 total cases, 50 recoveries, one death).