TUESDAY UPDATES: Boone County reports 44 new coronavirus cases, hospitalizations trend upward

The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services reported 44 new COVID-19 cases from Monday.

There are currently 411 active cases in the county and 26,352 cases since the pandemic began. The county reported 25,765 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 up 14% when comparing last week to the prior week. The county has a 9.2% positivity test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS).

The health department's hospital status is yellow with 66 COVID-19 patients in Boone County hospitals and 17 of them being Boone County residents. Of the 66 patients, 21 are in intensive care and five are on ventilators.

The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard reports that 108,771 residents have received their first dose in Boone County and 95,738 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 60.3%. The largest county in the state is St. Louis County with 63.6%.

Boone County is third in the state with a reported 53.1% of residents that have completed their coronavirus vaccine doses. St. Louis County is the first county in the state with 55.6% of residents having completed the doses for vaccination. The city of Joplin has 58.2% of the population fully vaccinated.

Cole County has the second-highest first vaccination rate in Mid-Missouri with 52%. Callaway County is third with 47.7%.

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

The district reported a 28.7 14-day rate per 10,000 for Tuesday.

CPS reports six district facilities (four elementary schools, one middle school and one district-wide facility) currently have staff out because of COVID-19. One staff member at an elementary school has tested positive for COVID-19. The district has six staff members at elementary schools, one staff member at a middle school and two staff members at district-wide facilities currently quarantined because of COVID.

The district reports 33 district facilities to have students currently out due to the coronavirus. All of the elementary schools and middle schools, three high schools and two district-wide facilities are affected.

There are 49 students that have tested positive for COVID-19. The district is reporting 33 students in elementary, five students in middle school, seven students in high school and four students at a district-wide facility have tested positive for the coronavirus.

There are 317 students who are required to quarantine due to the coronavirus. The district reports 233 elementary students are currently quarantining, 54 students in middle school, 14 students in high school and 18 students at district-wide facilities.

Cole County reports two new coronavirus-related deaths, 16 new cases

The Cole County Health Department reported 16 new coronavirus cases from over the weekend.

According to the dashboard update, there are 11,681 residential cases and 286 long-term care facility resident cases. That is 11,967 total cases in the county.

Cole County reported two new coronavirus-related deaths. There are 168 coronavirus deaths since the pandemic began. According to Cole County Health Department Director Kristi Campbell, the deaths occurred in October.

Cole County ranks 21st in the state for counties with the most coronavirus cases per 100,000 in the past week. Cases are up 25.7% when comparing last week to the prior week. The county has reported a 10.7% positivity test rate, Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard reports about 52% of the county have initiated their first dose of the vaccine and 47.5% of the county's population have been fully vaccinated.

The Jefferson City School District reported no new coronavirus cases in a student or staff member from Monday.

The district is reporting nine active cases in students and one active cases in staff.

The district is reporting 108 close contacts for students and eight close contacts for staff.

State health department reports 1,900 new COVID-19 cases

The state health department reported Tuesday 1,900 new cases of COVID-19.

According to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, 1,358 people tested positive for the virus using PCR tests. That's above the state's daily average of 1,115 cases for the testing method.

Over the last 24 hours, antigen testing in Missouri found 542 new probable coronavirus cases. Missouri's daily average for the testing method is 349 probable cases.

Missouri's seven-day positivity rate increased on Tuesday from 9.3% on Monday to 9.4%.

Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, 12,513 people in Missouri have died from virus-related causes.

According to DHSS, 174 patients have been reinfected with COVID-19 over the last seven days. Missouri averages 25 reinfection cases each day.

The state health department classifies a reinfection case as a person who tested positive for COVID-19 more than 90 days after a previous positive PCR or antigen test.

According to DHSS, 56,296 breakthrough cases have been reported in Missouri. That's 2% of the state's vaccinated population.

Data from the state health department shows more than 3.1 million Missourians are vaccinated against COVID-19.