MONDAY UPDATES: Montgomery County issues disaster declaration, health advisory
UPDATE 8:30 P.M.: The Montgomery County Commission signed a declaration of a disaster emergency Monday as the local health department issued a health advisory.
The advisory encourages residents living in the county to stay at home except for essential business. It also says people should practice social distancing as much as possible.
The advisory also highly recommends non-essential businesses to close. The document says this includes places like golf courses, barbers and salons, fitness centers and massage businesses. If a business chooses to remain open, the advisory urges the business to practice social distancing, clean and disinfect surfaces twice a day and to encourage workers to stay home when sick.
The advisory also urges all restaurants to switch to drive-thru, curbside pickup or delivery options and not allow on-site dining.
According to the advisory, there should also not be gatherings of more than 10 people.
UPDATE 5:55 P.M.: The Callaway County Health Department said Monday that another person has tested positive for COVID-19.
The department said in a news release that 15 people have now tested positive, with nine active cases.
Several of the positive tests are from William Woods University students.
UPDATE 5 P.M.: Boone County health officials now report 60 cases of COVID-19.
The city/county health department updated its COVID-19 tracking website late Monday afternoon with the new number. The county started the day with 54 cases.
State cases have surged past 1,000.
Boone County officials say 39 of those cases are active and 20 people have recovered. One person has died from COVID-19 in the county.
Cole County suspends concealed-carry permit processing
Cole County Sheriff John Wheeler said on Twitter on Monday that his department is suspending the processing of requests for permits to carry concealed weapons.
The freeze also applies to renewals.
Wheeler said the department is also waiving some late renewal fees.
UPDATE 4:35 P.M.: Despite dozens of COVID-19 infections logged in Cole and Boone counties, only a few of those patients were hospitalized as of Monday.
Columbia/Boone County Health Department spokesman Lucio Bitoy said Monday that according to information available to the department, one Boone County resident is hospitalized with COVID-19. Another 37 are at home on isolation, he said.
Jennifer Wolken with the Cole County Health Department said two people are hospitalized there. The county reported 24 positive COVID-19 tests Monday, with 21 active cases. Three patients have recovered.
Boone County reported 59 cases, including 38 active cases and another 20 who have recovered. One Boone County patient has died.
UPDATE 2:20 P.M.: The state has now passed the 1,000 mark for COVID-19 cases.
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Service said on its COVID-19 tracking website Monday afternoon that 1,031 cases have been confirmed across the state, including 12 deaths. Labs across the state have tested about 14,000 patients.
The biggest concentration of cases is in St. Louis County, where 366 people have tested positive for COVID-19.
Of the state's cases, only 32 are confirmed to be travel-related.
Gov. Mike Parson is expected to hold his daily COVID-19 briefing at 3 p.m. Watch it in the player below.
UPDATE 2:10 P.M.: Boone County health authorities have confirmed another case of COVID-19.
The county's COVID-19 tracking website was updated Monday afternoon to reflect 59 total cases countywide. Of those cases, 38 are active, 20 have recovered and one has died.
More than 900 people statewide have tested positive for COVID-19, including 12 deaths.
Callaway County health authorities in a news release Monday afternoon said the county has no new cases of COVID-19 but said that residents should not take that to mean they should stop taking precautions against the novel coronavirus.
Callaway County has confirmed 14 cases so far. Of those cases, eight are active and six have recovered.
UPDATE 12:45 P.M.: The Missouri Gaming Commission said Monday that the state's casinos will remain closed through April 6.
The commission closed down casinos March 17 amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Cooper County health authorities later said a person who subsequently tested positive for COVID-19 was on the gaming floor of the Isle of Capri Casino in Boonville for about two hours that morning.
The initial order closing the casinos was in effect through Monday, but the gaming commission's new order extends that through next week.
UPDATE 12:35 P.M.: The Osage County Emergency Operations Center said the county confirmed its first case of COVID-19 Monday.
The Facebook post said at least one person has tested positive and two other cases were pending.
At least 133 people have tested positive for novel coronavirus around Mid-Missouri, according to county health department information.
UPDATE 11:45 A.M.: The Cooper County Health Department said Monday a second person has tested positive for COVID-19.
The news release sent out at 11:05 a.m. said the new case is not travel-related.
County health officials said workers are investigating to see how many people the person might have been in close contact with recently.
The county confirmed its first case of COVID-19 last week.
UPDATE 11:25 A.M.: Columbia Public Schools officials said Monday morning that an online service some teachers are using for remote learning has crashed.
CPS started classes again Monday after spring break last week. However, with all district buildings closed students are using online tools for learning. Schoology is one of those websites.
CPS spokeswoman Michelle Baumstark said Monday morning that the problem appeared to be nationwide.
Superintendent Peter Stiepleman tweeted that it seemed the increased demand nationwide crashed the website.
Baumstark said other CPS online learning applications were working correctly.
UPDATE 11:10 A.M.: The Boone County health department said Monday 58 people have tested positive for COVID-19.
At least four more people have tested positive for COVID-19 since Sunday.
The City of Columbia website shows at least 20 people have recovered from novel coronavirus. It includes 25 of the COVID-19 cases in the county are travel-related, 16 of the cases are community-related.
The health department said people between the ages of 25-44 have the highest concentration of confirmed cases with at least 23 positives.
UPDATE 11:04 A.M.: Jefferson City Mayor Carrie Tergin signed an emergency proclamation on Friday that changes how stay-at-home order violations are handled.
The proclamation said residents found in violation of the Cole County stay-at-home order can now be tried at the city, county and state level.
Jefferson City Counselor Ryan Moehlman said Cole County prosecutors could only charge people at the state level for if they violated the order.
According to the order, businesses can also be disciplined for violating the county order. The order said city business licenses and liquor licenses can be suspended or revoked if the operations violate the order.
UPDATE 8:45 A.M.: The Chariton County Health Department said Monday morning a fourth person has tested positive for COVID-19.
County health officials reported the first case of novel coronavirus in the Chariton County on Friday, March 27. Over the weekend the health department said two other people also tested positive for COVID-19.
ORIGINAL: Over the weekend multiple Mid-Missouri counties added to their count of COVID-19 cases.
Statewide coronavirus totals also ramped up since Friday.
County health departments in Boone, Cole, Callaway and Camden counties all reported more positive cases of novel coronavirus. Boone and Cole each added 10 new cases since Friday, Callaway reported six new cases.
Camden County health officials say at least seven residents tested positive for COVID-19 over the weekend.
Here's the breakdown for those counties:
- Boone County: 54 total COVID-19 cases
- Cole County: 24 total COVID-19 cases
- Callaway County: 14 total COVID-19 cases
- Camden County: 11 total COVID-19 cases
As of Monday morning, at least 126 people in Mid-Missouri have tested positive for COVID-19.
More than 200 people have tested positive for novel coronavirus around the state since Friday. The Department of Health and Senior Services said at the end of last week there were 670 cases of COVID-19, as of Monday morning there were at least 903 confirmed cases.
The state health department said the highest concentration of cases was reported in St. Louis County. As of Monday morning, 336 people have tested positive in the county for novel coronavirus, according to the health department.
