TUESDAY UPDATES: Coronavirus cases down over 55% in Boone County compared to last week
The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services is reporting 14 new coronavirus cases were added to the information hub for Sunday. The county now delays reporting cases by two days.
The dashboard is showing 76 COVID-19 patients in Boone County hospitals. Of the 76 patients, 10 are in intensive care and three are on ventilators.
The county has reported 42,471 since the pandemic began. The county has reported 13,591 cases since 2022 started.
Boone County ranks eighth in the state with the most coronavirus cases in total volume in the past week and is 44th when sorted by cases per 100,000. Cases are down 55.3% when comparing last week to the prior week. The county has a 9.1% positivity test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS).
The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard reports that 118,385 residents have received their first dose in Boone County and 105,702 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 65.6%. The largest county in the state is St. Louis County with 70.3%.
Boone County is third in the state with a reported 58.6% of residents that have completed their coronavirus vaccine doses. St. Louis County is the first county in the state with 62.2% of residents have completed the doses for vaccination. The city of Joplin has 62.8% 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.
The district reported a 34 14-day rate for last Sunday.
CPS reports 17 district facilities (seven elementary schools, five middle schools, oine high school and four other district-wide facilities) currently have staff out because of COVID-19.
The district is reporting 17 coronavirus cases in staff across the district. The breakdown in staff shows seven 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 12 district facilities to have students currently out due to the coronavirus. The district is reporting seven of the elementary schools, three middle schools and two high schoosl are affected.
There are seven students that have tested positive for the coronavirus. The district is reporting three students in elementary, two students at the middle school level and two students at the high school level have tested positive for the coronavirus.
There are 12 students who are required to quarantine due to the coronavirus. The district reports three elementary students are currently quarantining, eight students in middle school and one student in high school.
Red zone report shows COVID cases dropping across Missouri
The newest State Profile Report shows nearly all of Missouri’s counties remain at the high transmission level of COVID-19. The report shows a new case rate of 219 cases per 100,000 people, a change of -45% from last week.
The report shows Missouri had 13,470 new cases of COVID-19 for the week of Feb. 18.
The report also indicates 353 residents died from the coronavirus, a 13% decrease from the previous week.
All Missouri counties are considered high community transmission except three that are labeled substantial transmission (DeKalb, Ralls and Worth).
The report states that 76.2% of Missouri residents 18 years and older have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine and 64.5% are considered fully vaccinated. Over 43.3% of residents 18 years and older have received a booster shot.
According to the report, 92.1% of coronavirus cases were identified as the omicron variant and 7.7% were identified as the delta variant.
According to the report, eight hospitals are currently dealing with supply shortages or seven percent of all hospitals.
Vaccine rates are up over 30% with 11,066 people 12 and older initiated getting a vaccination last week. 1,083 people 12-17 initiated vaccines last week, which is 20.7% higher than the last report.
Cole County reports new coronavirus cases down over 48%
The Cole County Health Department reported 42 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday.
According to the dashboard update, there are 16,901 residential cases and 328 long-term care facility resident cases. That is 17,229 total cases in the county since March 2020.
Cole County has reported 188 coronavirus deaths since the pandemic began.
Cole County ranks 33rd in the state for counties with the most coronavirus cases per 100,000 in the past week. Cases are down 48.8% when comparing last week to the prior week. The county has reported a 9.9% 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 51.3% of the county's population have been fully vaccinated.
The Jefferson City School District reported no new coronavirus cases in students or staff on Tuesday.
The district is reporting six active cases in students.
State of Missouri reports positivity rate below 9%
The state of Missouri reported 4,587 new and probable coronavirus cases on Tuesday.
The state of Missouri’s daily average of new coronavirus cases is 779 seven-day average (5,453 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 2,988 new coronavirus cases through PCR testing and another 1,599 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 1,119,444 confirmed cases for the pandemic and more than 272,048 probable cases.
The state recorded 17 new deaths for 14,894 total and six probable deaths were added for 3,469.
Missouri's new cases are down 51% over the past week, the state reports, as recent cases surge nationwide.
The rate of positive tests is 8.7% 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.
Osage (8), Maries (11), Callaway (14), Saline (17), Chariton (23), Pettis (30) and Cole (33) 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 7.61% (no increase for Thursday) of vaccinated Missourians have developed COVID-19 infections. The state is reporting 261,333 breakthrough cases out of 3,434,154 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 56% of Missouri residents are fully vaccinated.
COVID-19 hospitalizations are also trending down, with the state reporting 19% of total inpatient capacity and 22% of ICU capacity remaining. Those numbers are at 27% and 40% in Central Missouri, respectively. The state is reporting 1,645 patient hospitalizations. There are currently 333 patients in Missouri ICUs. The hospital status for all of Missouri is on a two day delay, the latest information if from Saturday.
