MONDAY UPDATES: Boone County reports two new coronavirus-related deaths; 83 new cases

The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services reported two new coronavirus-related deaths. There have now been 164 coronavirus deaths in Boone County. The first individual was in the 65-69 age group and died Sept. 28. The second individual was in the 50-54 age group and died Oct. 4.

The county reports 83 new COVID-19 cases from over the weekend.

There are currently 373 active cases in the county, an increase of seven from Friday. The county now has a reported total number of 24,986 COVID-19 cases.

The county reported 24,449 cases removed from isolation, an increase of 74 from Friday.

Boone County ranks eighth in the state with the most coronavirus cases in total volume in the past week. Cases are up 4% comparing last week to the prior week. The county has a 7.3% positive test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS).

The health department's hospital status is yellow with 53 COVID-19 patients in Boone County hospitals and 14 of them being Boone County residents. Of those, 16 are in intensive care and five are on ventilators.

The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard reports that 101,442 residents have received their first dose in Boone County and 91,826 Boone County residents have completed their vaccine doses.

Boone County has the third-largest percentage of county residents in Missouri that have received at least one dose of the vaccine with 56.2%. The largest county in the state is St. Louis County with 59.2%.

Boone County is third in the state with a reported 50.9% of residents that have completed their coronavirus vaccine doses. St. Louis County is the first county in the state with 53% of residents have completed the doses for vaccination. The city of Joplin has 56.3% of the population fully vaccinated.

Cole County has the second-highest first vaccination rate in Mid-Missouri with 49.9%. Callaway County is third with 45.5%.

The Columbia Public Schools reports active coronavirus and quarantine cases to their website daily.

The district reported a 28.7 14-day rate per 10,000 for Monday.

CPS reports eight district facilities (four elementary schools, one middle school, two high schools and two district-wide facilities) currently have staff out because of COVID-19. There are two staff at elementary, two staff at the high school level, and two staff at district-wide facilities that have tested positive for the coronavirus. The district has two elementary staff members and two at a district-wide facility currently quarantined because of COVID.

The district reports 31 district facilities to have students currently out due to the coronavirus. There are 20 out of 21 elementary, six out of seven middle schools, all high schools and one district-wide facility affected.

There are 40 students that have tested positive for COVID-19, an increase of four cases from Friday. The district is reporting 23 students in elementary, nine students in middle school and eight students in high school have tested positive for the coronavirus.

There are 106 students, which are required to quarantine due to the coronavirus, a decrease of 77 students from Friday. The district reports 62 elementary students are currently quarantining, 39 students in middle school, six students in high school and one at other district facilities.

SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital updates visitor policies

Starting Monday, SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital in Jefferson City will relax its visitor restrictions due to a decrease in COVID-19 cases in the community.

In most situations, non-COVID-19 patients are now allowed two support visitors over the age of 16 during designated hours.

Siblings of newborn patients at the Family Birth Center are also allowed to visit after delivery.

Patients in the hospital for imaging studies or other diagnostic testing are allowed to have one support person. This policy includes behavioral health and clinic patients.

Staff may make expectations for visitors in some end-of-life situations.

Seven-day positivity rate in Missouri continues downward trend

The seven-day positivity rate in Missouri continued a downward trend over the weekend.

According to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, the state's positivity rate dropped to 7.8% on Monday from 8.3% on Friday.

PCR testing in Missouri added 2,271 new cases of COVID-19. The additional cases pushed the statewide total for the testing method to 687,685.

Missouri's daily average for PCR testing is 841 cases.

Antigen testing added another 517 new probable cases over the weekend. The probable cases increased the total for the testing method in Missouri to 146,487.

The state added four new coronavirus-related deaths since Friday. According to the state health department, 11,964 people have died from COVID-19.

Hospitals in Missouri reported 1,233 patients are hospitalized with the virus. Of those patients, 244 are ventilators.

More than 2.9 million Missourians have finished the vaccination process against COVID-19.

That's 48.3% of Missouri's population.