Columbia/Boone health changing the way it delivers COVID-19 data

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ.)

After nearly two years of regular weekday releases of COVID-19 data, the Columbia/Boone County health department didn't on Friday.

The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services announced the news on its Facebook page Friday. "We continue to see the highest number of cases we’ve had during the entirety of the pandemic. As we’ve seen an increase in positive COVID-19 cases over the past few weeks, it also comes with an increased workload for our staff", the department wrote on Facebook.

That increased workload means a change in reporting is on its way, the department said.

The change comes as the county has seen two weeks straight with cases exceeding 300 per day. The county reported a record 3,461 active coronavirus infections as of Thursday.

Sara Humm, Spokeswoman for Columbia/Boone County Public Health, said Monday morning that the department plans to unveil its new reporting system later in a news release.

Dave Dillon who works for Missouri's Hospital Association says there are other resources to find COVID-19 data for Boone County.

"Almost everything anyone would ever need to know is available on the state site and we refer people there because of the very dynamic nature of that data.", Dillon said.

Boone County is one of the most active in the state for new coronavirus infections -- it was second in the state for new per capita cases as of Sunday, according to the state health department. Callaway, Cole and Miller counties are in the top 10.

"We are at a point with the Omicron variant where people should assume the virus is all around, and prevention measures are key to protecting yourself as they have been for nearly two years". Lisa Cox with Missouri's Department of Health and Senior Services said in an email today,