WEDNESDAY UPDATES: Concert Inside the Walls postponed to 2021
UPDATE 9:15 P.M.: This year’s Concert Inside the Walls is no more.
Organizers announced Wednesday that they were moving the performance by Smash Mouth to 2021. The concert had already been postponed from its original June date to Sept. 12 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
They did not cite a reason for the cancellation but said the band has pledged to play the show inside the Missouri State Penitentiary grounds next year.
Organizers said it was a quick and mutual decision made between Salute to America, Smash Mouth and the CVB.
Last year the concert has to be moved to the Jaycees Fairground because of the May tornado that hit the old prison.
UPDATE 5:55 P.M.: Cooper County reported a record jump in COVID-19 cases Wednesday, with the health department saying the increase is attributed to cases in congregated living facilities.
The county added 16 cases Wednesday, bringing its total to 53. The county’s active cases also went up 16 to hit 23.
The Cooper County Public Health Center reported 33 cases less than a week ago.
The health center’s report said the new cases were from community transmission, meaning they were contracted locally, and came from congregated living facilities. The center did not name any facility but nursing homes are included in the congregated living definition. The health center says 45 of the county’s 53 cases are from community transmission, including all 16 cases added Wednesday.
Cooper County’s case jump Wednesday was the biggest in Mid-Missouri outside of Columbia, which counted 28 new cases.
However, Pettis County came close to matching Cooper, reporting 15 new cases and 13 more active cases. Pettis County is among the counties in the region experiencing a surge in cases as the state continues to set records for new daily totals. The county stood at 216 total cases Wednesday, adding 40 since Friday.
Active cases in Pettis County increased to 90.
The number of people hospitalized in Pettis County has increased along with cases and was at 11 on Wednesday.
Cole County reported six new cases Wednesday to reach 205 but its number of active cases remained at 37.
Other area counties reporting new cases include Chariton, Audrain, Miller, Randolph, Callaway and Moniteau.
UPDATE 4:15 P.M.: There were fewer than 200 active cases of COVID-19 in Boone county as of Wednesday.
The number of people now sick with COVID-19 dropped to 199 on Wednesday, continuing its plummet over the last week. The number stood at 314 last Thursday.
The fast fall has accompanied a leveling out of new cases reported daily by the Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services.
Boone County reported 28 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday to reach 953 total. Two cases reported on Sunday were reassigned to other counties, the health department said.
The department reported 561 close contacts of infected people were in quarantine Wednesday.
The 28 new cases Wednesday brought the county's rolling five-day average of new cases to 22.4, down from a high of 42.2 on July 11.
The health department reported on its COVID-19 dashboard that 21 people were hospitalized Wednesday in Boone County with the novel coronavirus. That number has fallen slightly from the 29 reported late last week.
Hospitals continue to report no shortages in staff, equipment or beds.
UPDATE 2:58 P.M.: Missouri broke a record for new COVID-19 cases for the second straight day Tuesday.
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services reported 1,301 new cases for a total of 36,063. The number was more than 150 cases higher than the previous record of 1,138 set Tuesday.
The large increases this week extend a surge in cases that has now pushed the seven-day new daily case average to a record 907. The two straight record increases could be in part attributable to a backlog of 7,000 cases that state officials said last week they were trying to process.
Watch a live stream of Gov. Mike Parson's COVID-19 briefing at 3 p.m. in the player below.
On Tuesday the state health department said about 500 of that day's new cases were a result of processing the backlog of tests.
The state has processed tests done on about 590,000 people. The positive rate is 5.8 percent, up from the 5.5. percent reported last week, according to the state health department's online COVID-19 dashboard.
Deaths increased by 16 on Wednesday.
State officials have stressed that hospitalizations are more indicative of the toll the COVID-19 pandemic is taking than overall cases. However, hospitalization data from the state has not been available for a week after a White House-mandated reporting change.
Several Mid-Missouri counties have seen their own surges this month, as well. The state health department says Howard, Osage and Maries counties are among the top 10 in the state for percentage growth in cases.
Meanwhile, Boone County is reporting the ninth most cases statewide, according to state reporting. State numbers typically lag behind local reporting.
UPDATE 10:55 A.M.: Missouri prison data said more prison inmates and staff have tested positive for COVID-19 since last week, bringing the total of confirmed cases at prison facilities to 501.
The Missouri Department of Corrections COVID-19 tracking website said 414 inmates and 87 workers have tested positive for coronavirus since the pandemic started.
Since July 14, inmate cases increased by 180 and staff cases went up by 18.
According to state data, 266 inmates and 48 workers actively had COVID-19 as of Tuesday. It included 148 inmates have recovered from coronavirus and 39 staff members have also recovered.
Chillicothe Correctional Center led all other state facilities with 206 inmate and staff cases. The prison was one of a few that initially allowed inmate visits.
The website said 17,907 inmates have been tested for coronavirus. It included one inmate has died during the pandemic.
Three state prisons have not had any workers or inmates test positive for coronavirus. The data said Jefferson City Correctional Center, Moberly Correctional Center and Potosi Correctional Center had zero COVID-19 cases, as of Tuesday.
Prison spokeswoman Karen Pojmann said an inmate at Algoa Correctional Center in Jefferson City tested positive during pre-release testing. She added the inmate later tested negative and was released.
UPDATE 10:14 A.M.: The Boonville R-I School District said on its Facebook page school leaders are working to provide more information on the district's fall re-entry plan.
According to the post, the Boonville Board of Education is scheduled to review the re-entry plan during a meeting on Monday. The plan will be posted to the district's website on Tuesday, the post said.
School officials are working on two options for the fall semester, in-person learning and online. The post said information regarding virtual learning will be posted on the district's website before the first day of school on Aug. 24.
The school district included several changes the board of education will work through:
- Installing water bottle fill stations rather than water fountains.
- Isolation areas for students and staff that have COVID-19 symptoms.
- Purchasing personal protective equipment.
- Providing face masks for all staff members.
- Increased sanitation in classrooms and common areas.
- Outdoor lunch options.
The plan included installing plexiglass shields in office areas, formulating a visitor COVID-19 screening system and making sanitation stations available at all school entrances.
State Lawmakers to receive free COVID-19 tests
State lawmakers will have the opportunity to get tested for COVID-19 on Wednesday and Thursday.
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services will administer the free, voluntary tests to all state lawmakers and anyone who works in the capitol building ahead of Gov. Mike Parson's special session on violent crime. That special session starts on July 27.
"Members of the General Assembly have expressed an interest in voluntary testing availability during the upcoming special session," said DHSS director Dr. Randall Williams in a news release. "After seeing the experience another state legislature had recently, we felt this was a reasonable request."
Appointments for testing will be available Wednesday and Thursday then again on July 27 and 28. DHSS said tentative dates will be available in August as well.
CARES Act funding will be used to provide the testing.
