KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missouri Gov. Mike Parson credited the state’s COVID-19 testing strategy with keeping it off of the virus’ national watch list until late last month.
“Although we're seeing an increased number of cases, we are in a different place than we were in March and April,” Parson said during a press briefing on Wednesday. “We know more about the virus and how it behaves and we are better prepared now.”
In the past six weeks alone, Missouri has increased its testing from 4,000 to 5,000 tests per week to more than 90,000, according to Parson.
The state added 1,111 COVID-19 cases on Wednesday alone, continuing its trend of more than 1,000 new cases daily. Nine new deaths also were reported, according to data compiled by 41 Action News.
However, the governor also attributed part of Missouri’s increased case count to a data backlog at the state level. The delay, he said, was in the data being entered into a state system, not in the results being reported to local agencies. The backlog was eliminated last Friday, according to Parson.
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services now is “back to reporting” results from the past 24 hours, Parson said.
“There are still some testing delays with the national labs, but this situation is improving also, he said. “Just as we have from the beginning, we continue to monitor the number of cases, hospitalizations and severity of the symptoms, which is concerning, but it is still stable.”
Missourians in their 20s make up more than 21% of the state’s COVID-19 cases, while people in their 30s account for 16% of cases.
Kansas City, Missouri, was added to the White House Coronavirus Pandemic Task Force's "locations to watch" list in May, alongside cities such as Omaha, and in cities in North Carolina and Ohio.
