FRIDAY UPDATES: Boone County reports over 350 new coronavirus cases; hospitalizations down
The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services reported 352 new coronavirus cases. The county has reported 11,506 coronavirus cases in Jan. 2022 and 40,386 since the pandemic beginning.
The health department is reporting 175 COVID-19 patients in Boone County hospitals. Of the 175 patients, 20 are in intensive care and 13 are on ventilators.
Boone County ranks fifth in the state with the most coronavirus cases in total volume in the past week and is fourth when sorted by cases per 100,000. Cases are down 29.4% when comparing last week to the prior week. The county has a 33.9% positivity test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS).
The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard reports that 117,752 residents have received their first dose in Boone County and 104,611 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 65.2%. The largest county in the state is St. Louis County with 69.6%.
Boone County is third in the state with a reported 58% of residents that have completed their coronavirus vaccine doses. St. Louis County is the first county in the state with 61.3% of residents having completed the doses for vaccination. The city of Joplin has 62% of the population fully vaccinated.
Cole County has the second-highest first vaccination rate in Mid-Missouri with 55%. Callaway County is third with 51.2%.
The Columbia Public Schools reports active coronavirus and quarantine cases to their website daily. They updated it with new information from Tuesday.
The district reported a 355.1 14-day rate per 10,000 for Tuesday.
CPS reports 28 district facilities (13 elementary schools, seven middle schools, three high schools and five other district-wide facilities) currently have staff out because of COVID-19.
The district is reporting 46 coronavirus cases in staff across the district. The breakdown in staff shows 22 staff members at an elementary school, eight staff members at middle schools, 10 staff members at high schools and six staff members at district-wide facilities who have tested positive for COVID-19. Three staff members at elementary school and one staff member at a middle school have to quarantine due to being in close contact.
The district reports 24 district facilities to have students currently out due to the coronavirus. The district is reporting 15 of the elementary schools, five of the seven middle schools, three high schools and one district-wide facility are affected.
There are 83 students that have tested positive for COVID-19. The district is reporting 41 students in elementary, 18 students in middle school, 23 students in high school and one student in a district-wide facility have tested positive for the coronavirus.
There are 18 students who are required to quarantine due to the coronavirus. The district reports four elementary students are currently quarantining, seven students in middle school, four students in high school and three students at district-wide facilities.
Cole County reports under 100 new coronavirus for first time in two weeks
The Cole County Health Department reported 81 new coronavirus cases on Friday. This is the lowest number of new cases since Jan. 7 when 61 cases were reported and under 100 cases since Jan. 14.
According to the dashboard update, there are 16,227 residential cases and 313 long-term care facility resident cases. That is 16,540 total cases in the county.
Cole County has reported 175 coronavirus deaths since the pandemic began.
Cole County ranks 14th in the state for counties with the most coronavirus cases per 100,000 in the past week. Cases are down 27.8% when comparing last week to the prior week. The county has reported a 34.7% positivity test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard reports about 55% of the county have initiated their first dose of the vaccine and 50.8% of the county's population have been fully vaccinated.
The Jefferson City School District reported four new coronavirus cases in students and two new coronavirus cases in a staff member on Thursday.
The district is reporting 39 active cases in students and 13 active cases in staff.
The district is reporting 174 close contacts for students and 25 close contacts for staff.
State of Missouri reports new coronavirus cases down by 25% over the past week
The state of Missouri reported 9,106 new and probable coronavirus cases for Friday.
The state of Missouri’s daily average of new coronavirus cases has gone back up to a 7,007 seven-day average (49,052 confirmed cases from the previous week of reporting) as the state reports new coronavirus cases across the state according to state health department reporting. The daily average looks at the last seven days and doesn't account for the past three days, which will push that number even higher.
The state reported 6,997 new coronavirus cases through PCR testing and another 2,109 probable cases identified in antigen testing from Friday, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services coronavirus dashboard. Missouri has now reported 1,051,547 confirmed cases for the pandemic and more than 253,782 probable cases.
The state recorded 10 new deaths for 13,939 total and one probable death was removed for a total of 3,172.
Missouri's new cases are down 25.8% over the past week, the state reports, as recent cases surge nationwide.
The rate of positive tests is 32.3% for the last week. A higher positivity suggests higher transmission and that there are likely more people with coronavirus in the community who haven’t been tested yet.
Saline (3), Boone (4), Miller (5), Callaway (6), Pettis (8), Cole (14), Osage (17), Camden (26) and Audrain (34) counties are all in the top 40 Missouri counties in cases per capita over the last week, according to state statistics.
The state reports that 6.87% (a .12% increase for Friday) of vaccinated Missourians have developed COVID-19 infections. The state is reporting an increase of 9,178 breakthrough cases to 232,739 breakthrough cases out of 3,385,594 fully vaccinated people. The state has reported 1,067 breakthrough deaths.
Experts continue to tout vaccination as the best tool to fight the wave of new cases.
Still, new vaccinations have effectively stalled in Missouri, with more boosters being given daily than first or second shots. The state reported Thursday that 55.2% of Missouri residents are fully vaccinated.
COVID-19 hospitalizations are also trending down, with the state reporting 18% of total inpatient capacity and 16% of ICU capacity remaining. Those numbers are at 24% and 23% in Central Missouri, respectively. The state is reporting 3,746 patient hospitalizations. There are currently 739 patients in Missouri ICUs.
