MONDAY UPDATES: Emergency proclamation requires masks at Jefferson City meetings
UPDATE 10: 20 P.M.: The Jefferson City Council approved an emergency proclamation Monday night requiring masks at certain city meetings.
The requirement applies to people who are ten years or older attending any indoor, in-person public meeting. This includes council meetings as well as board, commission and committee meetings.
There are some exemptions. For example, the proclamation does not apply to people with a medical condition.
According to the proclamation, people are encouraged to bring their own face mask, but the city will also make face masks available.
UPDATE 7:17 P.M.: A Morgan County R-II School District staff member has tested positive for COVID-19, leading the district to stop activities for a week.
The district in Versailles reported the positive case on its Facebook page Monday, saying all school activities are postponed until July 27. The district said it would not identify the staff member, citing privacy concerns.
However, the district said, the county health department will be in touch with anyone who had close contact with the infected person.
As of Sunday the Morgan County Health Center reported 45 total COVID-19 cases with 13 of them active.
UPDATE 6:10 P.M.: Cole and Pettis counties each recorded 15 new cases of COVID-19 over the weekend.
But despite those new cases, Cole County's number of active coronavirus infections fell by 11.
Cole and Pettis counties tied for the highest weekend increase among Mid-Missouri counties outside Columbia. The new cases brought Cole County's total to 196 and Pettis County's cases to 231.
Cole County's active cases dropped to 39, while Pettis County's active cases stood at 80 on Monday afternoon.
Cases in Cole County have been on a slow but steady rise, increasing by 47 over the past week. However, the county health department reports only 1.52 percent of tests of county residents have been positive.
The increase in Pettis has been more sudden, with nearly 60 cases reported since July 13 and 31 more active cases. The county also reported its second death last week and recorded 24 new cases Friday.
Hospitalization have also grown in Pettis County, with eight county residents hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Monday. Boone County, with about four times the population, had nine residents hospitalized with the virus Monday.
Cases are also rising more quickly in Moniteau County, which recorded 11 positives over the weekend for a total of 92. The county recorded seven more active cases for a total of 16 as of Monday.
The Moniteau County Health Center warned that community spread is driving much of the increase there, meaning infected people are picking up the coronavirus locally from unknown sources.
"Given this information we would like to stress the importance of distancing yourself from others and utilizing a mask that covers your nose and mouth when that is not possible," the health center said in a Facebook post. "We are working very diligently with the identified cases and their contacts to ensure they are isolated from others and provide any assistance that we can."
Osage County reported seven new cases Monday for 27 total. The county's emergency management agency said the number of close contacts of infected people is growing rapidly.
Cases are also growing quickly in Howard County. Health officials there reported the county's 30th case Monday. That's up from 16 as of Wednesday.
Other area counties reporting new cases Monday were Audrain, Randolph and Saline.
UPDATE 4:40 P.M.: The Columbia/Boone County Health Department said Monday afternoon workers confirmed the county's 900th case.
The health department tweeted just after 4 p.m. health workers confirmed 901 COVID-19 cases over the course of the pandemic, up by nine from Sunday.
It included 220 actively had coronavirus, down from 263 the day before.
Monday's increase is the smallest reported in a week. According to health department data, the county has averaged about 21 new cases each day since last Monday.
The health department's COVID-19 dashboard said 707 people were tested over the weekend. It included that county hospitals have tested more than 41,000 people.
The tweet said nine people were hospitalized in the county with coronavirus. The data included six coronavirus patients were in the ICU and two others were on ventilators.
UPDATE 2:10 P.M.: The state reported 530 new COVID-19 cases Monday after a record-setting weekend.
Cases rose to 33,624 on Monday. Deaths increased by three to reach 1,132.
Monday's total was significantly lower than those reported Saturday and Sunday. The state broke its single-day record Saturday with 958 new cases, then registered another 846 new cases Sunday.
New daily case totals have stayed high for several weeks amid a nationwide surge in COVID-19. Hospitalizations have been trending upward since late June. However, because of a White House-mandated change, the last available update is from July 12, the state says on its online COVID-19 dashboard.
On July 12 the number was 875. The peak for hospitalizations is 984 on May 5, according to the dashboard.
Two Mid-Missouri counties -- Howard and Chariton -- are in the top 10 for COVID-19 case growth over the past seven days. Howard County's health department reported 30 total cases Monday, up from 19 on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Boone County has entered the top 10 for total cases statewide. The county reported 982 cases in its Sunday update. Monday's update is expected later in the afternoon.
ORIGINAL: Community COVID-19 testing is underway in Macon County Monday.
The Macon County Health Department said in a post to Facebook that it is working with Missouri's Department of Health and Senior Services to run the program.
The free testing is located at the Macon County Fairgrounds from 7 a.m. through 3 p.m.
According to the post, people looking to get tested have to register either over the phone or at the DHSS website.
