FRIDAY UPDATES: Columbia Public Schools changing contact tracing and exposure protocols beginning Monday

On Monday, Columbia Public Schools will change how it tracks people that come into contact with COVID-19 due to a decline in coronavirus cases.

Officials say students who have been exposed and remain asymptomatic will no longer need to wear a mask or observe social distancing during lunch. The district will continue to notify families if their student has been exposed. Families should continue to monitor their exposed student for symptoms and follow the screening guidance outlined in the plan.

Symptomatic or COVID-positive individuals will need to continue to follow the protocols regarding returning to school following illness.

Those who wish to wear a mask may continue to do so and masks will continue to be available for anyone who needs one.

Boone County reports first double-digit coronavirus increase since Saturday

The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services is reporting 11 new coronavirus cases were added to the information hub on Friday. The county now delays reporting cases by two days.

The dashboard is showing 26 COVID-19 patients in Boone County hospitals. Of the 26 patients, two are in intensive care and one is on a ventilator.

The county has reported 42,713 since the pandemic began. The county has reported 13,834 cases since 2022 started.

Boone County ranks ninth in the state with the most coronavirus cases in total volume in the past week and is 58th when sorted by cases per 100,000. Cases are down 55.7% when comparing last week to the prior week. The county has a 3.2% positivity test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS).

The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard reports that 118,640 residents have received their first dose in Boone County and 106,072 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 70.6%.

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 62.7% of residents having completed the doses for vaccination. The city of Joplin has 63.2% 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%.

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

The district reported an 8.8 14-day rate for last Wednesday.

CPS reports 17 district facilities (nine 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 15 coronavirus cases in staff across the district. The breakdown in staff shows eight staff members at an elementary school, four staff members at middle schools, one staff member at a high school and two 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 11 district facilities to have students currently out due to the coronavirus. The district is reporting seven of the elementary schools, two middle schools, one high school and one district-wide facility are affected.

The district is reporting three students in elementary school have tested positive for the coronavirus.

There are 12 students who are required to quarantine due to the coronavirus. The district reports three elementary students are currently quarantining, seven students in middle school, one student in high school and one student at a district-wide facility.

Cole County reports 15th straight day of single-digit coronavirus cases

The Cole County Health Department reported one new coronavirus case on Friday.

According to the dashboard update, there are 16,986 residential cases and 330 long-term care facility resident cases. That is 17,316 total cases in the county since March 2020.

Cole County has reported 17 cases in March and 77% of them are considered breakthrough cases. A breakthrough case is when a fully vaccinated person later gets the disease they were vaccinated for.

Cole County has reported 190 coronavirus deaths since the pandemic began.

Cole County ranks 65th in the state for counties with the most coronavirus cases per 100,000 in the past week. Cases are down 60% when comparing last week to the prior week. The county has reported a 3% 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 51.6% 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 three active cases in a student.

State of Missouri reports under 500 new coronavirus cases

The state of Missouri reported 467 new and probable coronavirus cases from Friday.

The state health department is reporting a 258 seven-day coronavirus case average (1,805 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 268 new coronavirus cases through PCR testing and another 199 probable cases identified in antigen testing from Thursday, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services coronavirus dashboard. Missouri has now reported 1,127,503 confirmed cases for the pandemic and more than 275,765 probable cases.

The state added six deaths for 15,634 total and two new probable deaths were added for 3,721.

Missouri's new cases are down 32.5% over the past week, the state reports, as recent cases go down nationwide.

The rate of positive tests is 3.7% 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 (9), Callaway (23), Randolph (29), Audrain (31) and Saline (32) 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 8.05% (.01 change for Friday) of vaccinated Missourians have developed COVID-19 infections. The state is reporting 278,162 breakthrough cases out of 3,457,141 fully vaccinated people. The state has reported 1,689 breakthrough deaths.

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

The state reported Wednesday that 56.3% of Missouri residents are fully vaccinated.

COVID-19 hospitalizations are also trending down, with the state reporting 19% of total inpatient capacity and 23% of ICU capacity remaining. Those numbers are at 25% and 35% in Central Missouri, respectively. The state is reporting 953 patient hospitalizations. There are currently 188 patients in Missouri ICUs. The hospital status for all of Missouri is on a three-day delay, the latest information is from Tuesday.

Capital Region Medical Center lifts COVID visitor restrictions

Capital Region Medical Center is beginning to shift the hospital's visitor policies towards pre-pandemic operations in regards to its facilities.

Officials say the Outpatient Services entrance has reopened, visitor hours have been expanded and door screening will be performed by thermal scan kiosks.

CRMC clinics, outpatient services including therapy and all inpatient areas will allow up to two visitors during visiting hours.

Patients, staff and visitors will continue to wear masks in patient care areas.