THURSDAY UPDATES: Dollar General employee tests positive for COVID-19
COVID-19 case numbers might differ among state and local health authorities because of issues with reporting and address verification.
UPDATE 9:15 P.M.: Cooper County reported a new case of COVID-19 on Thursday.
Health officials said the most recent positive case is considered a travel related exposure to COVID-19. Officials said the public may have been exposed to the virus at the Dollar General Store on Ashley Road on Tuesday between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.
The health department said it will not release the name of the patient, but said it is working with the person to make sure they are following state and federal isolation guidelines.
According to the health department's website, the county has had a total of 13 positive cases, 5 of which are currently active.
Five of the positive cases in Cooper County have been travel-related and eight have been community transmission, according to the health department.
UPDATE 5:30 P.M.: Cole and Callaway counties reported new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday.
Cole County added two more cases to reach 67, with the number of active cases staying steady at eight. Cases have gone up by nine over the last nine days but new cases remain far below those in other areas.
Callaway County reported one new active case Thursday to reach 44, with nine active. The county has added three cases over the last week but active cases have declined one during that time.
UPDATE 4:15 P.M.: Boone County's COVID-19 cases increased by double digits for the third day straight Thursday and fell just one short of reaching the record.
Local health officials reported 319 cases Thursday, an increase of 17 since Wednesday. The highest single-day increase of the COVID-19 pandemic came last Thursday, when cases went up 18.
Boone County has reported 42 new cases over the last three days, continuing growth of the number of new daily cases that health officials say is fueled by more testing and people getting out more as health orders ease, particularly younger people.
This week the number of Boone County residents currently hospitalized with COVID-19 has leaped from one to seven. The county also added 15 active cases Thursday to reach 99 as some recoveries offset new positives.
Columbia/Boone County health officials report 153 county residents currently in isolation because of contact with a known COVID-19 case.
Local hospitals, which treat patients from outside Boone County, as well, currently have 12 COVID-19 patients, with eight of them in ICUs and six on ventilators. They report no shortages of ICU space, staff, equipment or beds, according to the county's dashboard.
UPDATE 3 P.M.: Missouri set another record for new COVID-19 cases in a day, eclipsing the old mark set this week by more than 100.
The state Department of Health and Senior Services reported 553 new cases Thursday to reach 19,421. The state reported seven new deaths to reach 982.
The number set a new record, topping the previous mark of 434 set Tuesday. The department said Thursday's figures were pushed higher by a backlog of tests reported by Quest Diagnostics. The medical testing company reported its results for tests Sunday through Wednesday on Thursday.
Quest reported 160 positives from that period on Thursday, the department said.
Cases statewide have been on the rise as businesses reopen, people return to more normal activities and testing increases. Cases statewide have risen 9.5 percent over the past week, according to the state's online COVID-19 dashboard.
The average daily new cases over the last seven days is 359, the highest number of the entire pandemic.
The state reports testing more than 341,000 people for live coronavirus, with 5.5 percent of them testing positive.
The health department's director said this week many of those now testing positive are younger Missourians who are at lower risk of complications from COVID-19. Hospitalizations are at an all-time low, Dr. Randall Williams said Tuesday.
The states with the three largest populations -- California, Florida and Texas -- each set records for daily increases on Wednesday.
The state no longer publishes daily hospital reports from the Missouri Hospital Association in favor of weekly, regional reports. According to the most recent data for the central region of Missouri, hospital capacity was at 22 percent on Saturday and ICU capacity was at 39 percent in the region.
UPDATE 10:18 A.M.: University of Missouri Health Care said in an email Thursday morning its W. Broadway Mizzou Quick Care location has reopened.
MU Health Care spokesman Eric Maze said in the release three Mizzou Quick Care facilities were closed at the beginnig COVID-19 pandemic to re-allocate resources.
The healthcare facility inside the W. Broadway Hy-Vee is offering in-person visits and online visits, according to the release. Patients can reserve a spot at the clinic online.
However, the lobby will remain closed and the facility is not allowing walk-in visits, Maze said.
The release said two other quick care clinics inside of area Hy-Vee stores are closed until the further notice.
ORIGINAL: Missouri saw its largest drop in unemployment claims in four weeks on Thursday.
The Missouri Department of Labor said on its website initial unemployment claims for last week were at 17,165, the lowest level since the COVID-19 pandemic started.
Jobless claims fell by more than 1,500 from the previous week. The claims have fallen every week for the past 10 weeks.
More than 667,000 have claimed unemployment since mid-March.
According to the website, Missouri's unemployment was at 10.1% for the month of May. The website said more than 100,000 initial claims were filed over the last month.
US unemployment claims also fell last week with about 1.5 million workers filing jobless benefits. Continued unemployment claims fell from 20.3 million in the first week of June to 19.5 million last week.
