Greene County health officials say new cases of COVID-19 have surged 74-percent in Greene County since Monday.

Administrator of Community Health and Epidemiology Kendra Finley says cases haven’t been this high since August.

Greene County recorded a 74% increase in COVID cases between Monday and Thursday. We haven’t seen cases this high since August 2021. Please protect yourselves and your community.

— Kendra Findley (@FindleyKendra) December 30, 2021

Springfield hospitals are taking more patients, too.

On Wednesday, CoxHealth in Springfield reported 110 patients, up from 66 a week before.

Mercy Springfield reported 71 COVID positive patients Wednesday, up from 61 the day before.

The Springfield-Greene County Health Department says the Omicron variant has been in Greene County since mid-December.

The health department is urging people who’ve been exposed to COVID-19 or who have any symptoms to get tested.

Covid+ inpatients have increased a worrisome 167% in just the last 8 days. (66➡️110).

With already high seasonal census, and limited access to travelers, our hospitals are near capacity.

94.6% of Covid admissions were unvaxxed.

Get vaccinated to save a bed for someone else! pic.twitter.com/WdV2tHundz

— Steve Edwards (@SDECoxHealth) December 29, 2021

71 COVID+ today @MercySGF. Up 10 from yesterday. 12 non-infectious. 21 in the ICU. We are still within our projections but we are moving to the top quickly. Guess what I’m going to write next… https://t.co/E1SPXhE8us

— Erik Frederick (@CAOMercySGF) December 29, 2021