Missouri’s COVID death rate among nation’s worst

By JIM SALTER
Associated Press

The summer surge of COVID-19 is causing a spike in deaths in Missouri. The state health department says of 124 deaths reported Tuesday, 86 were discovered in the department’s weekly examination of death certificates from across the state. One of those deaths was in June, 52 in July and 33 earlier this month. But 38 of the deaths were new, an unusually high one-day total. According to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Missouri ranks fourth in per capita deaths over seven days, and that was before the 124 additional deaths were announced.