TUESDAY UPDATES: Latest state profile report shows COVID cases down 18% across Missouri

The newest State Profile Report shows Missouri remains at the high transmission level of COVID-19. The report shows new cases are down by 18 percent compared to last week with 131 cases per 100,000 people.

The report shows Missouri had 8,034 new cases of COVID-19 for the week of OCT. 15.

The report also indicates 137 residents died from the coronavirus, a 22% decrease from the previous week.

Most Missouri counties are in the red zone or high transmission level except 30 have moved to substantial transmission, six are in moderate transmission and one is in low transmission. Morgan, Cole, Osage and Maries County have moved to the substantial transmission category. Over 67% of Missouri residents 18 years and old have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine and more than 49% are considered fully vaccinated.

According to the report, over 98% of coronavirus cases are considered the Delta variant.

According to the report, 30 hospitals are dealing with staffing shortages, which account for 25% of hospitals in the state. Seven hospitals are currently dealing with supply shortages or six percent of all hospitals.

Vaccine rates are falling slightly, 22,191 people 18 and older initiated vaccination last week which is 22.9% lower than the last report. 4,456 people 12-17 initiated vaccines last week, which is 115% higher than the last report.

Boone County reports third coronavirus related death in past two days

The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services reported one new coronavirus-related death. The county has now reported 169 coronavirus deaths since the pandemic started. The individual was in the 80+ age group and died Oct. 16.

The health department reported 44 new COVID-19 cases from Monday.

There are currently 325 active cases in the county, a decrease of 21 from Monday. The county now has a reported total number of 25,230 COVID-19 cases.

The county reported 24,736 cases removed from isolation, an increase of 64 from Monday.

Boone County ranks eighth in the state with the most coronavirus cases in total volume in the past week. Cases are down 6.9% when comparing last week to the prior week. The county has a 6.8% positive test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS).

The health department's hospital status is green with 60 COVID-19 patients in Boone County hospitals and 17 of them being Boone County residents. Of those, 18 are in intensive care and nine are on ventilators.

The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard reports that 100,562 residents have received their first dose in Boone County and 91,038 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 55.7%. The largest county in the state is St. Louis County with 59.5%.

Boone County is third in the state with a reported 50.4% of residents that have completed their coronavirus vaccine doses. St. Louis County is the first county in the state with 53.3% of residents have completed the doses for vaccination. The city of Joplin has 56.7% of the population fully vaccinated.

Cole County has the second-highest first vaccination rate in Mid-Missouri with 49.8%. Callaway County is third with 45.7%.

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

The district reported a 26 14-day rate per 10,000 for Monday.

CPS reports five district facilities (three elementary schools and two middle schools) currently have staff out because of COVID-19. There are two staff at elementary schools and one staff member at the middle school level. The district has one staff member at an elementary school and one staff member district-wide facility currently quarantined because of COVID.

The district reports 28 district facilities to have students currently out due to the coronavirus. There are 16 out of 21 elementary, all of the middle schools, all high schools and one district-wide facility affected.

There are 25 students that have tested positive for COVID-19. The district is reporting 15 students in elementary, five students in middle school and five students in high school have tested positive for the coronavirus.

There are 131 students, which are required to quarantine due to the coronavirus, a decrease of 65 students from Monday. The district reports 77 elementary students are currently quarantining, 37 students in middle school, 16 students in high school and one at other district facilities.

Cole County reports 12 new COVID cases

The Cole County Health Department reported 12 new coronavirus cases from Monday.

According to the dashboard update, there are 11,079 residential cases and 286 long-term care facility resident cases. That is 11,365 total cases in the county.

Cole County has reported 163 coronavirus deaths since the pandemic began.

Cole County ranks 59th in the state for counties with the most coronavirus cases per 100,000 in the past week. Cases are down 8.9% comparing last week to the prior week. The county has a 6.8% positivity test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard reports about 49.8% of the county have initiated their first dose of the vaccine and 45.7% of the county's population have been fully vaccinated.

The Jefferson City School District reported no new coronavirus cases in students or staff from Monday.

The district is reporting two active cases in students and no active cases in staff.

The district is reporting 22 close contacts for students and one close contact for staff.

Missouri adds more than 950 new cases of COVID-19

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services reported more than 950 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday.

According to data from the state health department, 686 cases were found using PCR tests. That's below Missouri's daily average of 742 cases for the testing method.

The additional positive PCR tests increased the statewide total to 693,983 cases.

The state's COVID-19 dashboard showed antigen testing found 267 new probable cases. That pushed Missouri's total to 148,607 probable cases of the virus.

According to the state health department, there were 84 new coronavirus-related deaths.

A state health department official said 74 virus-related deaths were discovered during a weekly review of death certificates. There have been 11,920 virus-related deaths in Missouri since the pandemic started.

Data from DHSS shows 1,172 people were hospitalized in Missouri with COVID-19. Of those patients, 323 were in the ICU and 221 were on ventilators.

More than 2.9 million Missourians have finished the coronavirus vaccination process. That's 48.7% of the state's population.

The state health department reports 220,290 people in Missouri have received a third dose of the vaccine since Aug. 16.