FRIDAY UPDATES: Jefferson City Schools again put off graduation; Cole County cases rise
COVID-19 case numbers might differ among state and local health authorities because of issues with reporting and address verification.
UPDATE 5 P.M.: The Jefferson City School District pushed back graduation again on Friday, the same day Cole County added two new cases of COVID-19 on Friday and doubled its number of active cases.
JC Schools on Friday posted a letter from Jefferson City High School Principal Bob James to parents on its Facebook page. The letter says the district must push back graduation from the planned July 10 event.
"While Missouri has recently 'reopened,' social distancing guidelines and recommendations continue to make a single, in person, graduation impossible," James wrote. He said parents who filled out a survey overwhelmingly favored a single, in-person ceremony.
It's the second time the district has had to push back its planned ceremony. The district originally announced a date of June 12 with July 10 as a backup. The district at the time said if the July 10 event was canceled, the July 31 backup would be the final possible date for a single graduation ceremony to take place.
If a single group graduation ceremony isn't possible, a split commencement will be held Aug. 1, James wrote. Parents and student will hear by July 10 what will take place, he wrote.
Also on Friday, the Cole County Health Department reported two more COVID-19 cases and two additional active cases. Total cases now stand at 60, with four active cases.
The county recorded a new case for the first time since late May on Wednesday and has reported three new cases total this week.
UPDATE: 3:45 P.M.: The number of COVID-19 cases statewide made a nearly 300-point leap Friday, extending a streak of days with more than 200 new cases.
Meanwhile, Boone County reported seven new cases but no new active cases after an 18-case leap on Thursday that was the biggest of the entire pandemic.
Statewide cases increased by 293 to hit 17,201, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. Deaths increased by just two, reaching 948 after two straight days of heavy gains that officials attributed to reporting delays.
Cases have increased by more than 200 every day since Monday, with new cases on Thursday hitting 283. Ten days this month have seen new cases top 200.
The state reports cases have increased by 6.7 percent over the last week.
More than 306,000 people have been tested for the presence of live coronavirus and 5.5 percent of them have tested positive, according to state numbers.
The large jumps in statewide cases come as Boone County is experiencing its own surge.
Cases in Boone County went up seven Friday to reach 257. County health officials have reported 41 new cases starting Tuesday. Active cases, however, stayed steady Friday at 59.
One Boone County resident was in the hospital Friday and another 77 were in quarantine because they had contact with an infected person.
The Missouri Hospital Association reported Friday that 628 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 statewide, an increase of 35 from Thursday's report. The peak number of hospitalizations hit nearly 1,000 in early May.
Nearly 2,300 ventilators were available statewide, according to the report.
ORIGINAL: University of Missouri Human Resource Services said furloughs dropped slightly from the week before.
However, the university said pay cuts and layoffs both increased over the last week.
The university has posted furloughs, pay cuts and layoffs recently to make up for revenue lost during the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Friday, human resources said 2,627 workers were furloughed down from 2,644 the week before. According to the website, the number fell because of "managers deciding to implement different cost-savings measures or taking other actions."
It wasn't immediately available what cost-saving measures were implemented.
Pay cuts increased by seven, which affected 1,930 workers and layoffs were up by 14, equaling 137 total as of Friday. The cost-saving measures for furloughs, pay cuts and layoffs represented at least $14.1 million in savings for the university.
MU said it accepted proposals from 16 companies to take over the university's landscaping and custodial services. University officials have said they are looking at contracting out that work to save money.
According to the website, the University of Missouri System Board of Curators and other university leaders will go over the proposals and make a decision by early July.
