Health department to follow state procedure on COVID death reporting

Butler County Health Department officials are going to follow the state’s guidelines in how COVID-19 deaths are determined so the public will not become confused, officials said Friday..

The official number of COVID-19 related deaths, and the death total for Butler County, is 50, said Butler County Health Department Administrator Emily Goodin.

Goodin explained, “the state reports differently than what is being reported to the local jurisdictions. Department of Health and Senior Services does not count an antigen positive test as a COVID death. This is where the numbers have differed. However, to make it less confusing to the public, we will be reporting DHSS numbers.”

Health center personnel announced Wednesday there death numbers had increased from 58 to 84. Officials said this was because of new information regarding earlier deaths.

Thursday, on the health center’s Facebook page, it was announced the department is retracting the 24 COVID-19 deaths which were added Wednesday, along with eight additional COVID-related deaths.

“We were counting all this and the state is only counting laboratory confirmed,” Goodin said. “We were worried people might get confused with what’s going on. The antigen testing, someone could become positive with an antigen result. The state wouldn’t recognize it, because it’s an antigen test. They’re only recognizing lab confirmed positives, and if they die, and it was laboratory confirmed, that’s how they counted.”

Local officials have decided “to follow suit with what the state is reporting. So we’re all on the same page.”

Officials want to remind everyone, the health department is offering free coronavirus testing weekly for Missouri residents. Scheduled rapid testing will be done every Wednesday by appointment only in Butler County. To schedule a test, go to https://www.butlercountyhealth.org/. Look for “Vaccine Registration & Coronavirus Info” and click the “Book Now” icon, or call 877-435-8411 to set up your appointment.

The local health department is working with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) on distributing the COVID-19 vaccination to the area.

Since the governor has opened the vaccine to all Missouri residents, the staff will be hosting vaccination clinics weekly at the health department. Follow the link https://covidvaccine.mo.gov/navigator/, or call 877-435-8411 to set up an appointment.