TUESDAY UPDATES: Missouri remains in the red zone; state profile report shows new cases down 17%

The newest State Profile Report shows Missouri remains at the high transmission level of COVID-19. The report shows new cases are down by 17 percent compared to last week with 109 cases per 100,000 people.

The report shows Missouri had 12,982 new cases of COVID-19 for the week of Oct. 22.

The report also indicates 123 residents died from the coronavirus, a 10% decrease from the previous week.

More mid-Missouri counties are moving to the substantial transmission level after being at the high level. The following counties are now in orange – Camden, Pettis, Morgan, Maries, Caldwell, Cole and Saline. All other Mid-Missouri counties are considered high transmission.

Over 68% of Missouri residents 18 years and old have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine and more than 59% are considered fully vaccinated.

According to the report, over 99% of coronavirus cases are considered the Delta variant.

According to the report, 30 hospitals are dealing with staffing shortages, which account for 25% of hospitals in the state. Seven hospitals are currently dealing with supply shortages or six percent of all hospitals.

Vaccine rates are falling slightly, 24,901 people 18 and older initiated vaccination last week which is 12% lower than the last report. 1,656 people 12-17 initiated vaccines last week, which is 63% lower than the last report.

Boone County reports lowest number of new active cases since beginning of September

The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services reported 18 new COVID-19 cases from Monday. This is the lowest number of new cases since Sept. 4.

There are currently 276 active cases in the county, a decrease of one from Friday. This is the lowest number of active cases since July 2, when 271 cases were reported. The county now has a reported total number of 25,436 COVID-19 cases.

The county reported 24,991 cases removed from isolation, an increase of 38 from Monday.

Boone County ranks seventh in the state with the most coronavirus cases in total volume in the past week. Cases are up 10.5% when comparing last week to the prior week. The county has a 7.5% positive test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS).

The health department's hospital status is green with 41 COVID-19 patients in Boone County hospitals and 14 of them being Boone County residents. Of those, 14 are in intensive care and seven are on ventilators.

The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard reports that 104,272 residents have received their first dose in Boone County and 94,513 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 57.8%. The largest county in the state is St. Louis County with 60%.

Boone County is third in the state with a reported 52.4% of residents that have completed their coronavirus vaccine doses. St. Louis County is the first county in the state with 53.8% of residents have completed the doses for vaccination. The city of Joplin has 57% of the population fully vaccinated.

Cole County has the second-highest first vaccination rate in Mid-Missouri with 50.8%. Callaway County is third with 46.2%.

The Columbia Public Schools reports active coronavirus and quarantine cases to their website daily.

The district reported a 23.3 14-day rate per 10,000 for Monday.

CPS reports seven district facilities (five elementary schools, one middle school and one district-wide facility) currently have staff out because of COVID-19. There are five staff members at elementary schools, one staff member at the middle school level and two staff members at a district-wide facility. The district has two staff members at an elementary school currently quarantined because of COVID.

The district reports 27 district facilities to have students currently out due to the coronavirus. There are 16 out of 21 elementary, all of the middle schools, three high schools and one district-wide facility affected.

The district reports 29 district facilities to have students currently out due to the coronavirus. There are 18 out of 21 elementary, all of the middle schools, three high schools and one district-wide facility affected.

There are 36 students that have tested positive for COVID-19, an increase of eight from Monday. The district is reporting 20 students in elementary, seven students in middle school, and nine students in high school have tested positive for the coronavirus.

There are 190 students, which are required to quarantine due to the coronavirus, an increase of 17 students from Monday. The district reports 128 elementary students are currently quarantining, 40 students in middle school, 20 students in high school and two at other district facilities.

Cole County reports 14 new coronavirus cases

The Cole County Health Department reported 14 new coronavirus cases from Monday.

According to the dashboard update, there are 11,139 residential cases and 286 long-term care facility resident cases. That is 11,425 total cases in the county.

Cole County has reported 163 coronavirus deaths since the pandemic began.

Cole County ranks 31st in the state for counties with the most coronavirus cases per 100,000 in the past week. Cases are up 23.1% when comparing last week to the prior week. The county has an 8.1% positivity test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard reports about 50.8% of the county have initiated their first dose of the vaccine and 46.7% of the county's population have been fully vaccinated.

The Jefferson City School District reported no new coronavirus cases in students or staff from Friday.

The district is reporting no active case in a student or staff.

The district is reporting 27 close contacts for students and one close contact for staff are quarantining.

Hospitalizations due to COVID-19 drop below 1,000 in Missouri

The state health department reported Tuesday the number of hospitalizations due to COVID-19 dropped below 1,000 patients.

According to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, 999 people in Missouri are hospitalized with the virus.

Data from the state health department shows 176 patients are on ventilators.

DHSS reported nearly 980 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday. PCR testing found 648 new cases of the virus. That's below Missouri's daily average of 663 cases.

Antigen testing found another 329 new probable cases. That's above the state's daily average of 208 cases for antigen testing.

The seven-day positivity rate fell Tuesday from 6.5% on Monday to 6.4%.

According to DHSS, there 65 were new virus-related deaths. A state health department spokesperson said 58 deaths were found during a review of death certificates.

The additional deaths pushed Missouri's total to 12,016 since the pandemic started.