THURSDAY UPDATES: Pettis County records 25 new COVID-19 cases; Cole County comes close to record
UPDATE 6 P.M.: A surge in Pettis County's COVID-19 cases continued Thursday but the number of active cases in the county stayed the same.
The Pettis County Health Center reported 25 new cases Thursday for a total of 281 since the pandemic began. However, 25 people also were counted as recovered from the virus, leaving the number of active cases at 90.
Pettis County has recorded 40 cases over the past two days as totals statewide continue to surge.
Cole County recorded 14 new case Thursday to bring its total to 219 since the pandemic began. The county's daily record is 15.
Despite the increase, active cases only went up by eight to reach 45. Cole County has seen its own small surge in cases and has added 70 of them over the last 11 days.
Moniteau County also saw a relatively large increase in cases Thursday. The county health center reported nine new cases for a total of 103. Moniteau has also experienced a surge in new cases that has coincided with record totals reported statewide.
The county has recorded 23 new cases over the past week. The county netted seven active cases Thursday and that number now stands at 24. Moniteau County's active cases have tripled over the past week.
Cooper County health officials reported three new cases Thursday for a total of 62 since the pandemic began. The county also said the number of cases from a congregated living facility now stand at 22.
The county has not identified where those case are located, but the state Department of Corrections is reporting 33 active cases among inmates at the Boonville prison.
State and local totals are often at odds because of reporting delays.
The Cooper County Health Center in its case update Thursday said it "strongly encourages" everyone in the county to wear a mask.
Other Mid-Missouri counties reporting increases Thursday include Howard, Osage, Miller, Randolph, Montgomery and Morgan.
UPDATE 4:25 P.M.: Boone County reported 25 new COVID-19 cases Thursday, marking a three-day streak of increases in the 20s and pushing the rolling average of active cases more than a half-point lower.
The new cases bring the county's total to 978 since the pandemic began. Active cases dropped by 13 to hit 186.
Another 608 people were in quarantine because they have had contact with an infected person.
The county reported 27 new cases Tuesday and 28 on Wednesday.
Boone County has seen more than two weeks of new daily cases at 30 or fewer after a record-setting surge that started in early July. The highest daily case count so far is 53 on July 11.
That day the five-day rolling average of new cases hit 42.2. That number dropped from 22.4 on Wednesday to 21.8 on Thursday.
Columbia leaders instituted a mask requirement during the case surge. Mayor Brian Treece said last week that the lower cases might be an early indicator of that policy's effectiveness but more time is needed to make that determination.
Hospitalizations have trended upward along with the surge in cases. The county health department reported 25 patients with COVID-19 in Boone County's hospitals Thursday.
Nine of those patients are in ICUs and four of them are on ventilators. Boone County's hospitals reported no shortages in equipment, staff, supplies or beds Thursday.
UPDATE 3:05 P.M.: Missouri set a COVID-19 case record for the third straight day Thursday and health authorities again warned that the percentage of people testing positive for the virus is going up.
The state reported 1,637 new cases to reach 37,700 since the pandemic began. The number is more than 300 cases higher than the record of 1,301 set Tuesday and continues a weeks-long surge in cases.
The state reported 20 new deaths to reach 1,179.
The state has been working through a backlog of tests that stood at about 7,000 a week ago, padding the record numbers this week. However, state health director Dr. Randall Williams said Wednesday that it would be a misrepresentation to say the processing of those old tests is responsible for the record gains.
"We think this represents community transmission," especially among those in their 20s and 30s, Williams said at Gov. Mike Parson's COVID-19 briefing.
The seven-day average of new reported cases is now 1,039. This is the first time it's been over 1,000, and the number has grown every day since July 16
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services said on social media that the positive rate was 7 percent for the week of July 6-12, the most recent week with complete results. Williams said Wednesday that the state had a 3 percent to 4 percent positivity rate before the surge began.
Williams also said hospitalizations are trending upward. However, that data is not publicly available, with state officials citing a change in reporting requirements mandated by the White House as the reason for the lack of information.
The last day for which hospitalization data was available is July 12. At that time the number had been on an upward trend and was about 100 below the state's peak of 984 recorded on May 5.
The surge is being seen around the state, even in some rural counties. Howard, Osage and Maries counties are among the counties where cases are growing the most, by percentage, according to the state's online COVID-19 hub.
Boone County, where new cases skyrocketed beginning earlier this month, is now one of the top 10 jurisdictions in the state for total cases. St. Louis County is still in the lead with nearly 10,000 cases, according to the dashboard.
The surge is also happening nationwide. The seven-day average for new cases in the United States reached more than 67,000 on Wednesday, a new record.
ORIGINAL: Missouri's initial jobless claims for mid-July were the lowest reported since the COVID-19 pandemic started.
Unemployment claims also hit the biggest week-to-week drop in more than a month.
The Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations unemployment website said 12,134 state residents filed for unemployment benefits over the last week.
It's a difference of more than 4,600 from the week before. The next largest drop in unemployment claims came in the last week of May, initial claims were down 7,243 from 27,702 to 20,459.
As of Thursday, 732,819 Missourians have filed initial unemployment claims since the pandemic started.
The US Labor Department said unemployment went up for the first time in 16 weeks. Last week 1.4 million Americans filed for jobless benefits, up from 1.3 million the week before.
