TUESDAY UPDATES: Boone County hospital system capacity moves to green

The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services is reporting healthcare system capacity is now green. The green status means hospitals are operating within licensed bed capacity; accepting patient transfers from referring hospitals within standard care operating procedures. 

The county is reporting 107 COVID-19 patients in Boone County hospitals. Of the 107 patients, 20 are in intensive care and nine are on ventilators.

The county also reported 29 new coronavirus cases were added to the information hub for Sunday. The county now delays reporting cases by two days.

The county has reported 42,266 since the pandemic began.

Boone County ranks eighth in the state with the most coronavirus cases in total volume in the past week and is 34th when sorted by cases per 100,000. Cases are down 44.5% when comparing last week to the prior week. The county has a 14.5% 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 105,510 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 55.3%. 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 Saturday.

The district reported an 69.6 14-day rate for last Saturday.

CPS reports 17 district facilities (seven elementary schools, four middle schools, two high schools and four 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 eight staff members at an elementary school, six 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 15 district facilities to have students currently out due to the coronavirus. The district is reporting eight of the elementary schools, four middle schools, two high schools and one district-wide facility are affected.

There are eight students that have tested positive for COVID-19. The district is reporting six students in elementary, one student in middle school and one student 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.

COVID cases down across Missouri according to red zone report; all counties remain at high transmission level

The newest State Profile Report shows Missouri counties remain at the high transmission level of COVID-19. The report shows a new case rate of 397 cases per 100,000 people, a change of -44% from last week.

The report shows Missouri had 24,382 new cases of COVID-19 for the week of Feb. 11.

The report also indicates 406 residents died from the coronavirus, a 15% decrease from the previous week.

All Missouri counties are considered high community transmission.

The report states that 76% of Missouri residents 18 years and older have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine and 64.4% are considered fully vaccinated. Over 42.8% of residents 18 years and older have received a booster shot.

According to the report, 84.8% of coronavirus cases were identified as the omicron variant and 14.8% were identified as the delta variant.

According to the report, eight hospitals are currently dealing with supply shortages or seven percent of all hospitals. The report has removed reference to staffing shortages for state hospitals.

Vaccine rates are down with 8,511 people 12 and older initiated getting a vaccination last week, which is 32.3% lower than the last report. 897 people 12-17 initiated vaccines last week, which is 31.9% higher than the last report.

Cole County reported six new coronavirus-related deaths after death certificate review

The Cole County Health Department reported 45 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday.

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 is reporting new additional coronavirus-related deaths. The county has reported 188 coronavirus deaths since the pandemic began.

Kristi Campbell, director of the Cole County Health Department, says one of these deaths occurred in August 2021. The other five occurred from late December through early February. Campbell also says that one death was in their 40s, the other five were 60 years and older.

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% when comparing last week to the prior week. The county has reported a 15.9% positivity test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard reports about 55.3% 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 one new coronavirus case in a staff member on Monday.

The district is reporting two active case in a student and three active cases in staff.

State of Missouri reports new coronavirus cases down over 42% compared to last week

The state of Missouri reported 1,822 new and probable coronavirus cases on Tuesday.

The state of Missouri’s daily average of new coronavirus cases is 1,535 seven-day average (10,743 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 1,190 new coronavirus cases through PCR testing and another 632 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 1,113,542 confirmed cases for the pandemic and more than 269,465 probable cases.

The state recorded 233 new death for 14,864 total and 81 probable death was removed for 3,460.

Missouri's new cases are down 42.3% over the past week, the state reports, as recent cases surge nationwide.

The rate of positive tests is 13.9% 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.

Osage (10), Pettis (12), Miller (21), Callaway (22), Montgomery (23), Saline (28), Randolph (29), Cole (32), Boone (34) and Chariton (39) 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 7.63% (a .01 decrease for Tuesday) of vaccinated Missourians have developed COVID-19 infections. The state is reporting 261,333 breakthrough cases out of 3,423,173 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 55.8% of Missouri residents are fully vaccinated.

COVID-19 hospitalizations are also trending down, with the state reporting 17% of total inpatient capacity and 19% of ICU capacity remaining. Those numbers are at 28% and 36% in Central Missouri, respectively. The state is reporting 2,207 patient hospitalizations. There are currently 467 patients in Missouri ICUs.

University of Missouri now posting self-reported coronavirus numbers

The University of Missouri has returned to posting coronavirus case data on its website.

But instead of relying on the local health department, the university is now posting self-reported case numbers.

MU had been reporting total and active cases among students and employees on campus for most of the pandemic. That changed last month, when the Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services stopped releasing case data on the day it is reported, citing an overwhelming number of new cases driven by the highly infectious omicron variant.

MU said Tuesday that it will post self-reported case data going forward on its Show Me Renewal website. Sixty students reported cases in the 10 days leading up to Sunday, according to the data. It's no longer clear how many active cases are on campus.

The website also shows the number of cases reported each day by students, faculty and staff.

The omicron wave appears to have peaked in Missouri and Boone County, with case numbers and hospitalizations on a downward trend in recent weeks. Testing demand has also fallen off sharply, with health care providers scaling back hours at central testing sites.