FRIDAY UPDATES: Boone County reports three new coronavirus-related deaths, seven new cases

The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services is reporting three new coronavirus-related deaths. That makes 225 total deaths since March of 2020. The first individual died on Feb. 18, 2022 and was in the 80+ group. The second individual died on Feb. 25, 2022 and was also in the 80+ age group.  The third individual died on Feb. 28, 2022 and was in the 65-69 age group.

The county is reporting seven new coronavirus cases were added to the information hub on Friday. The county delays reporting cases by two days.

The dashboard is showing 23 COVID-19 patients in Boone County hospitals. Of the 23 patients, one is in intensive care and there are none on a ventilator.

The county has reported 42,768 since the pandemic began. The county has reported 13,889 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 29th when sorted by cases per 100,000. Cases are down 4.2% when comparing last week to the prior week. The county has a 3.8% positivity test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS).

The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard reports that 118,708 residents have received their first dose in Boone County and 106,179 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 65.8%. The largest county in the state is St. Louis County with 70.7%.

Boone County is third in the state with a reported 58.8% of residents that have completed their coronavirus vaccine doses. St. Louis County is the first county in the state with 62.8% of residents having completed the doses for vaccination. The city of Joplin has 63.3% of the population fully vaccinated.

Cole County has the second-highest first vaccination rate in Mid-Missouri with 55.5%. Callaway County is third with 51.7%.

Cole County ranks 48th in the state with the most COVID-19 cases per 100,000

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

According to the dashboard update, there are 17,003 residential cases and 330 long-term care facility resident cases. That is 17,333 total cases in the county since March 2020.

The county has reported 199 coronavirus deaths since the pandemic began.

Cole County ranks 48th in the state for counties with the most coronavirus cases per 100,000 in the past week. Cases are down 16.7% when comparing last week to the prior week. The county has reported a 3.8% positivity test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard reports about 55.5% of the county have initiated their first dose of the vaccine and 51.7% of the county's population have been fully vaccinated.

The Jefferson City School District reported on new coronavirus case in a student on Thursday.

The district is reporting two active cases in a student.

State of Missouri reports coronavirus cases down nearly 25% compared to last week

The state of Missouri reported 679 new and probable coronavirus cases from Friday.

The state health department is reporting a 198 seven-day coronavirus case average (1,387 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 465 new coronavirus cases through PCR testing and another 214 probable cases identified in antigen testing from Thursday, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services coronavirus dashboard. Missouri has now reported 1,129,449 confirmed cases for the pandemic and more than 277,111 probable cases.

The state added four deaths for 15,947 total and two probable deaths were removed for 3,789.

Missouri's new cases are down 24.6% over the past week, the state reports, as recent cases go down nationwide.

The rate of positive tests is 3.2% for the last week. A higher positivity rate suggests higher transmission and that there are likely more people with coronavirus in the community who haven’t been tested yet.

Montgomery (1), Audrain (5), Howard (8), Callaway (18), Boone (29), Pettis (34), Maries (36) and Osage (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 8.07% (no change for Friday) of vaccinated Missourians have developed COVID-19 infections. The state is reporting 279,658 breakthrough cases out of 3,463,646 fully vaccinated people. The state has reported 1,820 breakthrough deaths.

Experts continue to tout vaccination as the best tool to fight the wave of new cases.

The state reported Wednesday that 56.4% 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 25% and 34% in Central Missouri, respectively. The state is reporting 752 patient hospitalizations. There are currently 124 patients in Missouri ICUs. The hospital status for all of Missouri is on a three-day delay, the latest information is from Monday.