Businesses impacted as COVID-19 incidents grow in Greene County

The Springfield-Greene County Health Department issued multiple community exposure warnings involving businesses in recent days, capping off the month with the largest amount of local confirmed COVID-19 cases to date.

The Health Department's COVID-19 dashboard shows 284 confirmed cases as of this morning. That's up from 197 cases on June 1, representing a month-to-date increase of 87. Comparatively, there were 73 cases in March, the second-highest total locally, according to the dashboard.

Health Department spokesperson Kathryn Wall this morning said via email that Greene County has experienced community spread in June. Community spread marks incidences in which the source of the infection is unknown, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The most recently announced cases involved visits to myriad businesses, including grocery stores and restaurants.

A news release yesterday pointed to June 22-24 potential exposures at:
• Panera Bread, 4100 S. Campbell Ave.;
• Pennington’s Supermarket in Ash Grove;
• Pappo's Pizzeria, 221 E. Walnut St.; and
• Walmart Supercenter, 3315 S. Campbell Ave.

The Health Department keeps an updated list of community exposures on its website.

Officials have said increased testing can result in higher case numbers.

Elsewhere in southwest Missouri, cases around Jasper County and other areas have been skyrocketing this month, according to media reports.