New COVID-19 death reported in Greene County

The Springfield-Greene County Health Department reported the first COVID-19 death in three months.

The woman, who was in her 80s, did not have any underlying risk factors except her age, according to a news release. The death was not associated with a long-term care facility.

It's the ninth death in Greene County from the virus, including an epidemiologically linked case, according to the Health Department's COVID-19 dashboard. An epi-linked case refers to an individual who had not been confirmed by a laboratory test but had a connection to another case and showed COVID-19 symptoms.

Five of the previous deaths were residents of the Morningside of Springfield East assisted living center that's been one of the sources of the virus locally, a Health Department spokesperson previously told Springfield Business Journal. The most recent death, announced April 9, was an immunocompromised man in his 70s who was not a resident of Morningside.

COVID-19 cases in Greene County have spiked rapidly in the summer months. As of this morning, there were 426 confirmed cases, compared with 232 at the start of June, according to the Health Department dashboard.

Health Department Assistant Director Katie Towns this week reported a new daily record of 35 COVID-19 cases.

Towns updated City Council members on a masking ordinance scheduled to be heard at the governing body's July 13 meeting. Council also is slated to consider a request from the Health Department to add 37 contract employees, SBJ previously reported.