MONDAY UPDATES: Audrain County offering free at-home COVID test kits at drive-thru event Thursday
The Audrain County Health Department (ACHD) is offering a free at-home COVID-19 test kit for each registered individual at a drive-thru event at the Presser Performing Arts Center parking lot at 900 South Jefferson in Mexico on Thursday afternoon.
“We are happy to offer these antigen rapid test kits to Audrain County residents,” ACHD Administrator and CEO Craig Brace said in a release. “Residents wanting a test must first register at www.myachd.as.me and pick a time to come by and pick up their test kit. Or, they can call the health department at 573-581-1332 to register to receive a test as well.”
To pick up a kit, residents must show up at their ascribed time and present their name to ACHD employees at the event. Residents can pick up multiple test kits for others in their household but must present those names at the event as well and, those names must be registered to receive a kit without being present.
“We have a limited number of tests available and we want them to go to those that need them the most,” Brace explained. “We’d love to give these out to anyone that showed up but, that’s just not possible with the limited supply.”
Missouri DHSS adds 306 coronavirus related deaths after analyzing death certificates
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services has added 306 COVID-19 related deaths after the state’s disease surveillance system analyzed death certificates.
Officials say the deaths will be captured and reported publicly through the dashboard Tuesday morning.
Of the 306 deaths:
- One in August 2021
- 12 in December 2021
- 258 in January
- 35 in February
Officials at DHSS report the weekly activity typically causes a sharp increase in the deaths added to Missouri’s total the following day. DHSS is now regularly analyzing death certificates on Mondays.
Boone County reports three new coronavirus-related deaths; 133 new cases
Editor's Note: This blog entry has been corrected to reflect the days new cases were added.
The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services reported three new coronavirus-related deaths. That makes 218 coronavirus-related deaths since March 2020. The first individual was in the 80+ age group and died Jan. 27. The second individual was in the 70-74 age group and died Feb. 4. The third individual was in the 25-29 age group and died Feb. 5.
The county reported 133 new coronavirus cases were added to the information hub for Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The county now delays reporting cases by two days.
The county has reported 42,237 since the pandemic began.
The health department is reporting 113 COVID-19 patients in Boone County hospitals and the healthcare system capacity is yellow. Of the 113 patients, 19 are in intensive care and 12 are on ventilators.
Boone County ranks eighth in the state with the most coronavirus cases in total volume in the past week and is 36th when sorted by cases per 100,000. Cases are down 43.4% when comparing last week to the prior week. The county has a 14.8% positivity test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS).
The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard reports that 118,265 residents have received their first dose in Boone County and 105,501 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 65.5%. The largest county in the state is St. Louis County with 70.1%.
Boone County is third in the state with a reported 58.5% of residents that have completed their coronavirus vaccine doses. St. Louis County is the first county in the state with 62% of residents have completed the doses for vaccination. The city of Joplin has 62.6% of the population fully vaccinated.
Cole County has the second-highest first vaccination rate in Mid-Missouri with 55.2%. Callaway County is third with 51.5%.
The Columbia Public Schools reports active coronavirus and quarantine cases to their website daily. They updated it with new information from Wednesday.
The district reported an 86.9 14-day rate for last Wednesday.
CPS reports 17 district facilities (eight elementary schools, four middle schools, one high school and four other district-wide facilities) currently have staff out because of COVID-19.
The district is reporting 18 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 two 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 12 district facilities to have students currently out due to the coronavirus. The district is reporting six of the elementary schools, three middle schools, two high schools and one district-wide facility are affected.
There are seven students that have tested positive for COVID-19. The district is reporting three students in elementary and four students in high school have tested positive for the coronavirus.
There are 23 students who are required to quarantine due to the coronavirus. The district reports four elementary students are currently quarantining, eight students in middle school, one student in high school and 10 students at district-wide facilities.
Cole County cases down over 39% compared to last week
The Cole County Health Department reported 45 new coronavirus cases over the past three days.
According to the dashboard update, there are 16,807 residential cases and 328 long-term care facility resident cases. That is 17,135 total cases in the county since March 2020.
Cole County has reported 182 coronavirus deaths since the pandemic began.
Cole County ranks 32nd in the state for counties with the most coronavirus cases per 100,000 in the past week. Cases are down 39.1% when comparing last week to the prior week. The county has reported a 17.9% positivity test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard reports about 55.2% of the county have initiated their first dose of the vaccine and 51.2% of the county's population have been fully vaccinated.
The Jefferson City School District reported no new coronavirus cases in students or staff on Sunday.
The district is reporting one active case in a student and two active cases in staff.
State of Missouri reports over 6,300 new coronavirus cases over the past four days
The state of Missouri reported 7,750 new and probable coronavirus cases over the past four days.
The state of Missouri’s daily average of new coronavirus cases is 1,644 seven-day average (11,510 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 6,328 new coronavirus cases through PCR testing and another 1,422 probable cases identified in antigen testing from Friday through Monday, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services coronavirus dashboard. Missouri has now reported 1,112,352 confirmed cases for the pandemic and more than 268,833 probable cases.
The state recorded 19 new death for 14,631 total and four probable death was removed for 3,379.
Missouri's new cases are down 41.1% over the past week, the state reports, as recent cases surge nationwide.
The rate of positive tests is 14.7% 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.
Pettis (7), Miller (16), Osage (20), Callaway (21), Montgomery (26), Howard (29), Cole (32), Boone (36), Randolph (37) and Saline (40) 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 7.64% (a .02 decrease for Monday) of vaccinated Missourians have developed COVID-19 infections. The state is reporting 261,333 breakthrough cases out of 3,421,464 fully vaccinated people. The state has reported 1,277 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 55.7% of Missouri residents are fully vaccinated.
COVID-19 hospitalizations are also trending down, with the state reporting 15% of total inpatient capacity and 17% of ICU capacity remaining. Those numbers are at 21% and 29% in Central Missouri, respectively. The state is reporting 2,204 patient hospitalizations. There are currently 469 patients in Missouri ICUs.
