FRIDAY UPDATES: Boone County reports positivity rate below 8%

The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services is reporting 28 new coronavirus cases were added to the information hub for Wednesday. The county now delays reporting cases by two days.

The dashboard is showing 55 COVID-19 patients in Boone County hospitals. Of the 55 patients, six are in intensive care and four are on ventilators.

The county has reported 42,555 since the pandemic began. The county has reported 13,675 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 45th when sorted by cases per 100,000. Cases are down 53.6% when comparing last week to the prior week. The county has a 7.4% positivity test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS).

The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard reports that 118,475 residents have received their first dose in Boone County and 105,781 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 65.7%. 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 62.4% 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 24.7 14-day rate for last Wednesday.

CPS reports 15 district facilities (seven elementary schools, four 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 four students that have tested positive for the coronavirus. The district is reporting two students in elementary, one student at the middle school level and one student at the high school level have tested positive for the coronavirus.

There are 13 students who are required to quarantine due to the coronavirus. The district reports five elementary students are currently quarantining, seven students in middle school and one student in high school.

Cole County reports coronavirus cases are down over 48% compared to last week

The Cole County Health Department reported four new coronavirus cases on Friday.

According to the dashboard update, there are 16,931 residential cases and 329 long-term care facility resident cases. That is 17,260 total cases in the county since March 2020.

Cole County has reported 188 coronavirus deaths since the pandemic began.

Cole County ranks 38th in the state for counties with the most coronavirus cases per 100,000 in the past week. Cases are down 48.4% when comparing last week to the prior week. The county has reported a 7.1% 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 Thursday.

The district is reporting two active cases in students.

State of Missouri reporting nearly 47% of new coronavirus cases down compared to last week

The state of Missouri reported 1,117 new and probable coronavirus cases on Friday.

The state health department is reporting a 616 seven-day coronavirus case average (4,312 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 dashboard reported 872 new coronavirus cases through PCR testing and another 245 probable cases identified in antigen testing from Thursday, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services coronavirus dashboard. Missouri has now reported 1,121,879 confirmed cases for the pandemic and more than 273,248 probable cases.

The state recorded 12 new deaths for 15,235 total and one probable death was removed for 3,611.

Missouri's new cases are down 46.8% over the past week, the state reports, as recent cases go down nationwide.

The rate of positive tests is 7.3% 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), Callaway (26), Saline (32), Cole (38) and Miller (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% (no change for Friday) of vaccinated Missourians have developed COVID-19 infections. The state is reporting 273,974 breakthrough cases out of 3,439,437 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.

The state reported Thursday that 56% of Missouri residents are fully vaccinated.

COVID-19 hospitalizations are also trending down, with the state reporting 16% of total inpatient capacity and 19% of ICU capacity remaining. Those numbers are at 12% and 31% in Central Missouri, respectively. The state is reporting 1,615 patient hospitalizations. There are currently 314 patients in Missouri ICUs. The hospital status for all of Missouri is on a three-day delay, the latest information is from Tuesday.

MU Health Care to close mass coronavirus testing site

MU Health Care plans to close its mass coronavirus testing site next week as demand continues to lag.

The site at 404 N. Keene St., Women's Hospital, will operate for the last time Sunday. Testing volumes at the site have decreased by 65% since late January, MU Health said in a news release. Testing demand has dropped precipitously statewide -- from about 34,000 per day on Jan. 24 to about 15,000 per day on Wednesday, according to Johns Hoskins University.

Levels of new cases have also dropped sharply during that time as the omicron wave subsides.

MU Health Care said those needing a test can visit a quick care or urgent care clinic or their primary care doctor's office. Anyone suffering from severe symptoms should seek emergency medical help.