WEDNESDAY UPDATES: Boone County reports lowest number of active coronavirus cases since late June
The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services reported 20 new COVID-19 cases from Tuesday. There are currently 232 active cases in the county.
The county reported 25,229 cases removed from isolation.
Boone County ranks eighth in the state with the most coronavirus cases in total volume in the past week. Cases are down 34.3% when comparing last week to the prior week. The county has a 5.9% positive test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS).
The health department's hospital status is yellow with 51 COVID-19 patients in Boone County hospitals and 11 of them being Boone County residents. Of the 51 patients, 14 are in intensive care and seven are on ventilators.
The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard reports that 104,662 residents have received their first dose in Boone County and 94,805 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 58%. The largest county in the state is St. Louis County with 60.6%.
Boone County is third in the state with a reported 52.5% of residents that have completed their coronavirus vaccine doses. St. Louis County is the first county in the state with 54.3% of residents having completed the doses for vaccination. The city of Joplin has 57.3% of the population fully vaccinated.
Cole County has the second-highest first vaccination rate in Mid-Missouri with 51%. Callaway County is third with 46.6%.
The Columbia Public Schools reports active coronavirus and quarantine cases to their website daily.
The district reported a 19.8 14-day rate per 10,000 for Tuesday.
CPS reports eight district facilities (three elementary schools, two middle schools and three district-wide facilities) currently have staff out because of COVID-19. There are six staff members at elementary schools, one staff member at a middle school, one middle school staff member and two staff members at a district-wide facility. The district has one staff member at a middle school, one staff member at a high school and three staff members at a district-wide facility currently quarantined because of COVID.
The district reports 28 district facilities to have students currently out due to the coronavirus. There are 17 out of 21 elementary, all of the middle schools, three high schools and one district-wide facility affected.
There are 26 students that have tested positive for COVID-19. The district is reporting 13 students in elementary, 12 students in middle school, and one student in high school have tested positive for the coronavirus.
There are 128 students which are required to quarantine due to the coronavirus. The district reports 57 elementary students are currently quarantining, 61 students in middle school, nine students in high school and one at other district-wide facilities.
Cole County reports another large increase in coronavirus cases after case backlog
The Cole County Health Department reported 38 new coronavirus cases from Tuesday.
Cole County Health Department Director Kristi Campbell says that large increase in new cases is due to a backlog of data that was just sent into the department. The new cases go back as far as the end of September and into October.
According to the dashboard update, there are 11,349 residential cases and 286 long-term care facility resident cases. That is 11,635 total cases in the county.
Cole County reported 165 coronavirus deaths since the pandemic began.
Cole County ranks ninth in the state for counties with the most coronavirus cases per 100,000 in the past week. Cases are up 18.2% when comparing last week to the prior week. The county has reported a 9.6% positivity test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard reports about 51% of the county have initiated their first dose of the vaccine and 46.9% of the county's population have been fully vaccinated.
The Jefferson City School District reported two new coronavirus cases in students and one new cases in a staff member from Tuesday.
The district is reporting six active cases in students and two active cases in staff.
The district is reporting 52 close contacts for students and one close contact for staff.
Missouri children aged five to 11 are now eligible for COVID-19 vaccine
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) is following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) recommendation for children ages five to 11 to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
The vaccine for children age five to 11 is a smaller dose (10 µg), a third of the dosage for individuals 12 years and older (30 µg). The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is administered as a series of two doses, 3 weeks apart, for all eligible individuals.
In clinical trials, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was found to be more than 90 percent effective in preventing COVID-19 in children five to 11. Vaccine side effects were mild and similar to those seen in adults and with other vaccines recommended for children. The most common side effect was a sore arm.
According to census data, more than 533,000 of Missouri’s population includes children aged five to 11 will now be eligible for vaccination.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine that is given to adults and adolescents cannot be used for children age five to 11.
Providers who pre-ordered pediatric vaccines are listed at MOStopsCovid.com, and later this week Vaccines.gov will list locations on an interactive map where the vaccine is available. You can also text your ZIP code to 438829, or call 1-800-232-0233 to find locations near you.
Nearly 1,340 new cases of COVID-19 added in Missouri
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services reported Wednesday nearly 1,340 new cases of COVID-19.
Data from the state health department showed 946 new cases were found using PCR tests. That's above the state's daily average of 679 cases for the testing method.
Antigen testing found 391 new probable cases of the virus. The state averages 218 probable cases for that testing method.
Missouri's seven-day positivity rate dropped Wednesday from 6.7% on Tuesday to 6.6%.
The state health department reported eight new virus-related deaths. At least 12,212 people in Missouri have died from virus-related causes.
Hospitals across the state reported 1,003 patients are being treated for COVID-19. According to DHSS, 154 patients are on ventilators.
More than 3 million Missourians have completed the coronavirus vaccination process. That's 49.6% of Missouri's population.
The state health department reported 352,984 booster shots have been given out to patients.
