FRIDAY UPDATES: Boone County reports lowest number of active cases since July 2
The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services reported 28 new COVID-19 cases from Wednesday.
There are currently 297 active cases in the county, a decrease of 24 from Thursday. This is the lowest number of active cases since July 2, when 271 cases were reported. The county now has a reported total number of 25,341 COVID-19 cases.
The county reported 24,875 cases removed from isolation, an increase of 52 from Thursday.
Boone County ranks eighth in the state with the most coronavirus cases in total volume in the past week. Cases are down 22.4% when comparing last week to the prior week. The county has a 5.7% positive test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS).
The health department's hospital status is green with 49 COVID-19 patients in Boone County hospitals and 14 of them being Boone County residents. Of those, 14 are in intensive care and seven are on ventilators.
The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard reports that 100,127 residents have received their first dose in Boone County and 90,619 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 55.5%. The largest county in the state is St. Louis County with 59.6%.
Boone County is third in the state with a reported 50.2% of residents that have completed their coronavirus vaccine doses. St. Louis County is the first county in the state with 53.5% of residents have completed the doses for vaccination. The city of Joplin has 56.8% of the population fully vaccinated.
Cole County has the second-highest first vaccination rate in Mid-Missouri with 49.7%. Callaway County is third with 45.8%.
The Columbia Public Schools reports active coronavirus and quarantine cases to their website daily.
The district reported a 23.7 14-day rate per 10,000 for Friday.
CPS reports eight district facilities (six elementary schools and two middle schools) currently have staff out because of COVID-19. There are four staff members at elementary schools, two staff members at the middle school level and one staff member at a district-wide facility. The district has two staff members at an elementary school currently quarantined because of COVID.
The district reports 30 district facilities to have students currently out due to the coronavirus. There are 19 out of 21 elementary, all of the middle schools, three high schools and one district-wide facility affected.
There are 38 students that have tested positive for COVID-19, an increase of two from Thursday. The district is reporting 21 students in elementary, nine students in middle school, seven students in high school and one student at a district-wide facility have tested positive for the coronavirus.
There are 231 students, which are required to quarantine due to the coronavirus, an increase of 39 students from Thursday. The district reports 146 elementary students are currently quarantining, 70 students in middle school, 14 students in high school and one at other district facilities.
Jefferson City School District reports no active coronavirus cases in students or staff
The Cole County Health Department reported 11 new coronavirus cases from Thursday.
According to the dashboard update, there are 11,108 residential cases and 286 long-term care facility resident cases. That is 11,394 total cases in the county.
Cole County has reported 163 coronavirus deaths since the pandemic began.
Cole County ranks 34th in the state for counties with the most coronavirus cases per 100,000 in the past week. Cases are up 60% when comparing last week to the prior week. The county has an 8.5% positivity test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard reports about 49.7% of the county have initiated their first dose of the vaccine and 45.6% of the county's population have been fully vaccinated.
The Jefferson City School District reported no new coronavirus cases in students or staff from Tuesday.
The district is reporting no active case in a student or staff.
The district is reporting 22 close contacts for students and one close contact for staff are quarantining.
MU Health Care offers weekend hours for COVID-19 testing
MU Health Care's coronavirus testing site is now opening up on the weekends.
The site at 2003 W. Broadway, Suite 100 is offering walk-in tests from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, MU Health Care said Friday in a news release. The site is the primary place for MU Health Care COVID-19 testing.
The site is also open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays. Patients must wear a mask and bring proof of insurance, but the test is free. MU Health Care has administered more than 200,000 COVID-19 tests, according to its website.
Missouri adds more than 1,140 new cases of COVID-19
Missouri added more than 1,140 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday.
According to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, 816 people tested positive for the virus using PCR tests.
That's above Missouri's daily average of 692 cases for the testing method.
Another 326 probable new cases of COVID-19 were found through the use of antigen testing. That's also above the state's daily average of 207 cases for the testing method.
Missouri's seven-day positivity rate dropped Friday from 6.8% on Thursday to 6.7%.
Data from the state health department showed eight new virus-related deaths. At least 11,950 people have died in Missouri from virus-related causes.
There are 1,171 people hospitalized in Missouri with COVID-19.
According to DHSS, 209 patients are on ventilators.
More than 3.3 million Missourians have started the coronavirus vaccination process.
That's 54.8% of the state's population.
