THURSDAY UPDATES: Boone County report a new coronavirus-related death; 22 new cases
EDITOR'S NOTE: This blog entry has been corrected to reflect that the county reported one death.
The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services is reporting one new coronavirus-related death. This makes 221 total coronavirus-related deaths in the county since March 2020. The individual was in the 80+ age group and died Feb. 12.
The county is reporting 22 new coronavirus cases were added to the information hub for Tuesday. The county now delays reporting cases by two days.
The dashboard is showing 54 COVID-19 patients in Boone County hospitals. Of the 54 patients, five are in intensive care and three are on ventilators.
The county has reported 42,527 since the pandemic began. The county has reported 13,647 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 48th when sorted by cases per 100,000. Cases are down 52% when comparing last week to the prior week. The county has an 8% positivity test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS).
The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard reports that 118,436 residents have received their first dose in Boone County and 105,748 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 70.4%.
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 having completed the doses for vaccination. The city of Joplin has 62.9% 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 51.6%.
The Columbia Public Schools reports active coronavirus and quarantine cases to their website daily.
The district reported a 26.8 14-day rate for last Tuesday.
CPS reports 16 district facilities (seven elementary schools, five middle schools, one high school and three other district-wide facilities) currently have staff out because of COVID-19.
The district is reporting 16 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, one staff member at a high school 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 schools are affected.
There are six students that have tested positive for the coronavirus. The district is reporting three students in elementary, two students at the middle school level and one student at the high school level have tested positive for the coronavirus.
There are 123 students who are required to quarantine due to the coronavirus. The district reports four elementary students are currently quarantining, seven students in middle school and one student in high school.
Cole County reports a positivity rate below 8%
The Cole County Health Department reported 17 new coronavirus cases on Thursday.
According to the dashboard update, there are 16,928 residential cases and 328 long-term care facility resident cases. That is 17,256 total cases in the county since March 2020.
Cole County has reported 188 coronavirus deaths since the pandemic began.
Cole County ranks 39th in the state for counties with the most coronavirus cases per 100,000 in the past week. Cases are down 53.3% when comparing last week to the prior week. The county has reported a 7.5% 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 case in a student or staff on Wednesday.
The district is reporting seven active cases in students.
State of Missouri reports over 400 COVID-19 related deaths after analyzing death certificates
Editor's Note: The blog has been updated for clarity.
The state of Missouri reported 1,271 new and probable coronavirus cases on Wednesday.
The state health department is reporting a 679 seven-day coronavirus case average (4,756 confirmed cases from the previous week of reporting). The daily average looks at the last seven days and doesn't account for the past three days.
The state reported 738 new coronavirus cases through PCR testing and another 533 probable cases identified in antigen testing from Wednesday, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services coronavirus dashboard. Missouri has now reported 1,121,007 confirmed cases for the pandemic and more than 273,003 probable cases.
The state recorded 316 new deaths for 15,223 total and 137 probable deaths were added for 3,612.
Missouri's new cases are down 47% over the past week, the state reports, as recent cases surge nationwide.
The rate of positive tests is 7.9% 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 (3), Saline (6), Maries (10), Callaway (11), Chariton (24), Randolph (36) and Cole (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 7.97% (a .36 increase for Thursday) of vaccinated Missourians have developed COVID-19 infections. The state is reporting 273,974 breakthrough cases out of 3,437,327 fully vaccinated people. The state has reported 1,519 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 20% of total inpatient capacity and 21% of ICU capacity remaining. Those numbers are at 24% and 31% in Central Missouri, respectively. The state is reporting 1,584 patient hospitalizations. There are currently 320 patients in Missouri ICUs. The hospital status for all of Missouri is on a two-day delay, the latest information if from Monday.
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services has added 429 COVID-19 related deaths after the state’s disease surveillance system analyzed death certificates.
Of the 429 deaths:
- One in March 2021
- Four in May 2021
- One in June 2021
- Nine in July 2021
- 20 in August 2021
- 24 in September 2021
- 10 in October 2021
- 13 in November 2021
- 20 in December 2021
- 213 in January
- 114 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.
