WEDNESDAY UPDATES: Mid-Missouri counties report 15 COVID-19 related deaths
Multiple Mid-Missouri counties reported COVID-19 related deaths today after many county health departments had shut down to winter weather and extremely low temperatures.
According to county dashboards the following counties reported at least one COVID-19 related death after a few days of not reporting:
- Saline (1 death)
- Pettis (4 death)
- Howard (1 death)
- Audrain (1 death)
- Callaway (1 death)
- Cole (7 death)
Cole County has the hightest number of deaths in Mid-Missouri with 108 total.
Howard County has the lowest number of reported deaths with seven.
Boone County continues downward trend in coronavirus cases
Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services is reporting 24 new COVID-19 cases.
The dashboard is currently reporting 177 active cases.
The county continues to trend down as there has now been 21 straight days of only double-digit case increases. This is the longest number of days of only double-digit increases since Oct. 13.
The county now has a reported total number of COVID-19 cases of 17,198.
The county has reported the total number of cases removed from isolation is 16,947.
Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services dashboard has reported the latest five-day average as 16.
The dashboard is reporting the positivity rate of 16.4% positivity rate for Feb. 5 through last Thursday.
The health department is reporting the total number of hospitalizations in Boone County is 39.
The number of Boone County residents hospitalized is reported to be 9.
The dashboard is reporting 13 COVID-19 patients in the ICU and 5 patients on ventilators.
The hospital status is currently in 'Green' status. 'Green' status is when hospitals are operating within licensed bed capacity; accepting patient transfers from referring hospitals within standard care operating procedures.
The dashboard also reports that 23,667 have received their first dose.
The county has the fourth-largest percentage of people that have received at least one dose of the vaccine with 13.1%.
Saline County has the largest with 16.3% of the population have received the first dose of the vaccine. Montgomery County is second with 14.8% and Cole County is third with 14%.
Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services is also reporting that due to winter weather and poor road conditions they have yet to receive a shipment of 200 doses of the Moderna vaccine.
The department will notify those eligible for the vaccine after receiving the shipment of the vaccine.
MU Health Care postponing Friday 1st dose vaccination event
MU Health Care is postponing the vaccination event Friday at Faurot Field because the organization hasn't received the 4,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine.
“We still hope to receive the vaccine in time to hold our Moderna first-dose events scheduled for Sunday, but appointments scheduled for Friday will be postponed,” said Brad Myers, MU Health Care Director of Pharmacy and Laboratory Services. “We will notify people who have appointments for Friday to let them know their appointments are postponed until we receive the vaccine. Once we receive the vaccine, we will reach out to reschedule the appointments.”
Those scheduled to receive a second Pfizer dose on Friday, Feb. 19, will be able to receive their vaccination as scheduled. Those doses are not affected by the shipment delay.
The organization vaccinated over 4,000 residents at a clinic two weeks ago.
According to the Missouri coronvirus vaccine dashboard, 23,667 Boone County residents have received their 1st dose of the coronavirus vaccine; accounting for 13.1% of the population. The dashboard shows 11,411 residents also received their second vaccination shot.
Missouri coronavirus cases, hospitalizations stay low
Missouri's new coronavirus case numbers, positive test rate and hospitalizations remained low Wednesday, continuing the state's downward trend.
The state reported 598 new cases for a total of 472,741. The state reported 12 new deaths to reach 7,740.
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services' COVID-19 dashboard reported a positivity rate of 6.6%, unchanged from the day before. The rate is the percentage of people tested for coronavirus who get a positive result.
However, testing numbers plummeted last week amid snow and extreme cold.
So far 10.6% of the state's population has received a first dose of coronavirus vaccine, the dashboard reports. The state reports more than 900,000 doses have been administered.
The cold weather has closed many of the mass coronavirus clinics scheduled around the state. Some local clinics have also closed. However, Boone Hospital Center was holding a clinic Wednesday the the Columbia Mall and MU Health Care still plans to give thousands of shots at a mass clinic later this week.
The number of Missourians hospitalized with COVID-19 continued to drop Wednesday. The state reported about 1,300 people in hospitals as of Saturday, the last day of reliable data. That's about 1,500 below the peaks set in November and December.
