THURSDAY UPDATE: MU scientist helps detect COVID variants in NYC wastewater

A multi-institutional team of researchers, including virologist Marc Johnson, a professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at the University of Missouri, has detected at least four “cryptic” variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in samples of wastewater from New York City’s public sewer system.

Their findings were recently published in Nature Communications, a journal of Nature.

Johnson, a co-corresponding author on the study, believes the results suggest the “cryptic” mutations they identified in New York City could be linked to possible animal origins, according to a release.

“For instance, we still don’t know where the omicron variant came from, but it had to come from somewhere,” Johnson said. “These variants are bubbling up everywhere, including omicron, which eventually spilled into the general population and wreaked havoc. We think these weird lineages could be where the next variant of concern for COVID-19 comes from.”

Boone County reports nearly 30% of all coronavirus cases occurred in Jan. 2022

The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services reported 265 total new coronavirus cases were added to the information hub for Tuesday; with 179 occurring on Tuesday and 86 were added to other dates in January. The county now delays reporting cases by two days.

The county is reporting nearly 41% of the new cases are for residents 29 and younger with the largest number of new cases being for those aged 20 to 24.

The county has reported 41,538 since the pandemic beginning.

The health department is reporting 142 COVID-19 patients in Boone County hospitals and the healthcare system capacity is yellow. Of the 142 patients, 29 are in intensive care and 17 are on ventilators.

Boone County ranks seventh in the state with the most coronavirus cases in total volume in the past week and is 13th when sorted by cases per 100,000. Cases are down 46.2% when comparing last week to the prior week. The county has a 28.4% positivity test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS).

The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard reports that 118,011 residents have received their first dose in Boone County and 105,038 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 65.4%. The largest county in the state is St. Louis County with 69.8%.

Boone County is third in the state with a reported 58.2% of residents that have completed their coronavirus vaccine doses. St. Louis County is the first county in the state with 61.6% of residents having completed the doses for vaccination. The city of Joplin has 62.2% of the population fully vaccinated.

Cole County has the second-highest first vaccination rate in Mid-Missouri with 55.1%. Callaway County is third with 51.3%.

The Columbia Public Schools reports active coronavirus and quarantine cases to their website daily. They updated it with new information from Thursday.

CPS reports 19 district facilities (nine elementary schools, six middle schools, one high school and three other district-wide facilities) currently have staff out because of COVID-19.

The district is reporting 19 coronavirus cases in staff across the district. The breakdown in staff shows nine staff members at an elementary school, five staff members at middle schools, two staff members at high schools and three staff members at district-wide facilities who have tested positive for COVID-19. Three staff members at elementary school have to quarantine due to being in close contact.

The district reports 20 district facilities to have students currently out due to the coronavirus. The district is reporting 13 of the elementary schools, four of the seven middle schools and three high schools are affected.

There are 35 students that have tested positive for COVID-19. The district is reporting 21 students in elementary, five students in middle school and nine students in high school have tested positive for the coronavirus.

There are 11 students who are required to quarantine due to the coronavirus. The district reports three elementary students are currently quarantining, seven students in middle school and one student in high school.

Cole County reports 24 new coronavirus cases

The Cole County Health Department reported 24 new coronavirus cases on Thursday.

According to the dashboard update, there are 16,513 residential cases and 320 long-term care facility resident cases. That is 16,833 total cases in the county.

Cole County has reported 182 coronavirus deaths since the pandemic began.

Cole County ranks 42nd in the state for counties with the most coronavirus cases per 100,000 in the past week. Cases are down 53.9% when comparing last week to the prior week. The county has reported a 27% positivity test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard reports about 55.1% of the county have initiated their first dose of the vaccine and 50.9% of the county's population have been fully vaccinated.

The Jefferson City School District reported no new coronavirus cases in students and staff on Wednesday.

The district is reporting 28 active cases in students and eight active cases in staff.

The district is reporting 179 close contacts for students and 25 close contacts for staff.

State of Missouri reports over 3,500 new coronavirus cases; positivity rate continues to drop

The state of Missouri reported 4,454 new and probable coronavirus cases for Wednesday.

The state of Missouri’s daily average of new coronavirus cases has gone back up to a 4,847 seven-day average (33,931 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 3,571 new coronavirus cases through PCR testing and another 883 probable cases identified in antigen testing from Friday, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services coronavirus dashboard. Missouri has now reported 1,086,551 confirmed cases for the pandemic and more than 262,502 probable cases.

The state recorded three new death for 14,292 total and two probable deaths were added for 3,289.

Missouri's new cases are down 39.5% over the past week, the state reports, as recent cases surge nationwide.

The rate of positive tests is 26.8% 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 (8), Miller (10), Boone (13), Callaway (14), Osage (25), Randolph (30), Pettis (34) and Camden (36) 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 7.38% (a .13% increase for Thursday) of vaccinated Missourians have developed COVID-19 infections. The state is reporting a 4,604 case increase of breakthrough cases of 250,897 breakthrough cases out of 3,399,382 fully vaccinated people. The state has reported 1,185 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 55.4% of Missouri residents are fully vaccinated.

COVID-19 hospitalizations are also trending down, with the state reporting 18% of total inpatient capacity and 15% of ICU capacity remaining. Those numbers are at 28% and 31% in Central Missouri, respectively. The state is reporting 3,332 patient hospitalizations. There are currently 664 patients in Missouri ICUs.