Today’s update discusses:

• Saliva-based test being approved by FDA
• St. Louis hospitalizations plateauing
• New unemployment benefits beginning
• MU launching COVID dashboard

HEALTH

• Governor Parson announced this week that the saliva-based COVID-19 test developed in Missouri has officially been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Parson stated that the test will allow the state to increase testing volumes and improve turnaround times.
• According to the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force, COVID-19 hospitalizations in the area appear to be plateauing. Dr. Alex Garza, the task force’s head, stated that the seven-day average for hospitalizations has stayed around 40 during the last month, which is still what the task force considers to be its “red zone.” However, the task force does not believe the number will decrease further without universal masking policies.

 ECONOMY

• The Missouri Department of Labor will be providing residents on unemployment an additional $300 a week, which is being funded by a federal government program. This allotment comes just shy of a month after the federal $600-a-week program ended. The extra benefits could arrive as early as this week and will be backdated to the last week of July (when the original federal benefit ended).

 EDUCATION

• The University of Missouri has launched an online dashboard—Show Me Renewal—for
  COVID-19 reporting and tracing among students. It shows the number of active student cases, the percent that number is of the total student body, and the number of students who have recovered. The dashboard also provides students with other COVID-19 information, as well as the ability to self-report.