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Why COVID-19 Cases Are Surging In Two Missouri Counties

By Steve Kraske,

Published June 8, 2021 at 3:53 PM CDT

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Covid-19 testing supplies. — The Linn County Health Department started mass testing for COVID-19 in May and is seeing 30-40% of its tests coming back positive.

Despite ongoing vaccination efforts in Missouri, Livingston and Linn Counties are seeing COVID-19 cases rise above the statewide average.

Linn County's reported cases are five times greater and the county's Health Department administrator blames low vaccination numbers and the prevalence of three COVID-19 variants in the community as likely reasons. Across the state line in Johnson County, Kansas, cases are lower as 60% of eligible residents have been vaccinated.

Krista Neblock, administrator for the Linn County Health Department
Dr. Sanmi Areola, director of the Johnson County Department of Health and Environment

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Steve Kraske

When I host Up To Date each morning at 9, my aim is to engage the community in conversations about the Kansas City area’s challenges, hopes and opportunities. I try to ask the questions that listeners want answered about the day’s most pressing issues and provide a place for residents to engage directly with newsmakers. Reach me at steve@kcur.org or on Twitter @stevekraske.

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Chris Young

Chris Young is an Assistant Producer for KCUR’s Up To Date. Contact him at chrisy@kcur.org.

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Mackenzie Martin

Whether it’s something happening right now or something that happened 100 years ago, some stories don’t fit in the short few minutes of a newscast. As a podcast producer and reporter at KCUR Studios, I help investigate questions and local curiosities in a way that brings listeners along for adventures with plot twists and thought-provoking ideas. Sometimes there isn’t an easy answer in the end – but my hope is that we all leave with a greater understanding of the city we live in. Reach me at mackenzie@kcur.org.

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