Coronavirus

The number of positive coronavirus cases in Missouri grew to more than 250, with eight deaths, and state officials are attributing some of the increase to more testing. 

The state health department reported 255 cases as of Tuesday, up from 183 on Monday.

The deaths include three women who lived at an assisted-living center in Springfield, with a fourth woman who lives there hospitalized.

Several health care centers and systems are operating mobile testing sites. The state now lists 28 places offering testing.

Dedicating additional funds to fighting the COVID-19 pandemic was a priority of a rare Sunday meeting of the House Budget Committee.

Lawmakers met well into the evening but started their session by approving a recommendation from the governor's office that would allow the spending of approximately $13 million on the state's coronavirus response, money that State Budget Director Dan Haug said the state is expecting from the federal government.

Missouri officials confirmed late Saturday that a fifth person has tested positive for coronavirus in the state.

The Department of Health and Senior Services said the latest case involves a patient in Greene County and is travel-related. Officials are working is anyone who'd come in close contact with the patient was exposed to the disease.

The announcement came hours after state officials released new details about the fourth COVID-19 case in Missouri.

The University of Missouri says it is now planning on holding all classes remotely through the end of the semester, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

In a statement Friday evening, university president Mun Choi writes all in-person classes at its campuses in Columbia, St. Louis, Rolla and Kansas City will be suspended. Plans for final exams and commencement are still pending. 

Dormitories and dining halls will remain open, as will the university’s libraries, but recreation centers on all four campuses will close.

The bad news is yes, your pet can get the coronavirus; the good news (if you want to call it that) is that you can't get it from them and they can't get it from you. Guest: CB CHASTAIN, MU Veterinary Health Center | Also, Showcase CoMo is all about putting local businesses in the spotlight, and all under one roof! WHITNEY SCHIEBER and HEATHER BROWN tell us about the variety of participants expected at this year's event. (4:37) March 13, 2020

Missouri officials say the state has a second case of the novel coronavirus. 

Gov. Mike Parson announced that the patient is in the early 20s and had recently traveled to Austria.

The patient submitted to a test on Thursday and was found to be positive for COVID-19. 

Parson said the patient is quarantined at home and is expected to recover. He said cases of patients with the virus are travel-related.

St. Louis meanwhile has joined Kansas City in banning all public events with more than 1,000 people in response to the coronavirus.

State senators and House representatives met in a joint committee to discuss Missouri’s preparedness for the probable spread of coronavirus on Tuesday.

Randall Williams, the director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, said the state is well-prepared and has plenty of resources in the case of an outbreak. The state has the ability to test up to 1,000 patients and has only used about 40. Only one test has been classified as a “presumptive positive,” in St. Louis County.

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Missouri health officials are keeping tabs on several dozen people who may have been exposed to the coronavirus or traveled to places that put them at risk of exposure. 

But so far, no one in Missouri has tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19.

State health officials sent several potential cases to the federal Centers for Disease Control for testing.

On Thursday, the state health department said it received federal approval to run such tests its own health lab, which should speed up the results.

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