THURSDAY UPDATES: Columbia, Boone County health orders modified to restrict restaurant and bar patron movement
UPDATE 5:25 P.M.: The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services extended the current COVID-19 health order through the end of the month but added provisions relating to large events and restaurants and bars.
The department extended the orders covering Columbia and Boone County on Thursday afternoon. The extension includes two modifications that will take effect Monday -- restaurant and bar patrons must remain seated and wear masks when not seated and groups wanting to have large events must submit plans 30 days in advance.
The department cited the increase in the county's active cases as justifications for the extension and new provisions.
The new rules for restaurants and bars require patrons to be seated at all times unless they're entering or leaving the business or using a restroom. Groups of restaurant and bar patrons are also now limited to 10 people.
Groups organizing public gatherings must submit plans for social distancing and other COVID-19 safeguards at least 30 days before the event under the modified order.
Event plans that are "a clear attempt to evade compliance with this order" will be rejected, according to the modified order.
The modified order for Columbia also includes a requirement that masks be worn when social distancing is not possible. The change is meant to align with an existing Columbia ordinance requiring masks.
That requirement is not included in the Boone County order.
Under the modified orders, crowds at sporting events are still limited to 50 percent of the venue's capacity or 100 people, whichever is fewer. However, waivers can be sought for sporting events.
UPDATE 4:50 P.M.: The Moniteau County Health Center warned the public Thursday about possible exposure to COVID-19 at a cafe.
The health center put out the alert on its Facebook page, saying it could not identify contacts of a person with COVID-19 who had been at the Nic-Nac Cafe in California between 7:30 and 8:30 a.m. Sunday.
"The intent of these releases are to alert the community who may have been present at the listed date and time frame," the health center said. "Notices such as this are in no way a directive to the public to avoid any establishment for any reason."
The health center recommends anyone who might have been exposed monitor themselves for symptoms.
The organization last reported COVID-19 case numbers on Tuesday, saying the county has 143 cases, 29 of them active.
Boone County reports 16 new cases
The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services reported 16 new COVID-19 cases Thursday.
The number continues an overall downward trend in cases since Saturday, when the county hit a record of 60. The county stood at 1,318 cases Thursday with 216 of those active, a decrease of three from the day before.
Another 576 close contacts of positive cases were in quarantine.
The new cases reported Thursday brought Boone County's rolling five-day average to a low not seen since July 2. The average was at 17.6 after Thursday's cases were reported, having dropped by about half since Saturday.
The county's hospitals reported 26 COVID-19 patients Thursday, with six of them on ventilators, according to the health department's online dashboard. The hospitals reported no shortages.
The health department emphasized in messages on social media Thursday that cases continue to grow quickly. The department has continually tracked the number of days it takes to reach the next 100 cases.
Boone County hit 1,300 cases Thursday, just four days after reaching 1,200 cases.
UPDATE 4:10 P.M.: Hartsburg's annual Pumpkin Festival was canceled because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The cancellation was made public in a Facebook post sent out Wednesday night.
Festival committee president Leslie Martin said it was a hard decision.
"It wasn't an easy decision on our behalf to make," Martin said.
She included committee members attended Village of Hartsburg community meeting over the past two months going over the town's thoughts and concerns ahead of the festival.
"We decided it was the best thing to do for the safety of the residents and festival-goers," Martin said.
The committee has been following the COVID-19 pandemic since it started, Martin said. She included planning for the event typically starts in January.
Festival planners had been in contact with Columbia/Boone County Public Health and Human Services. Martin said the health officials weren't able to give the annual celebration a "go ahead or an absolute no."
State corrects hospital number error
Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services spokeswoman Lisa Cox said an error Thursday caused under-reporting of the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19.
The state is now reporting 966 hospitalizations as of Monday, the last day for which the information is available. The number is the second-highest daily hospitalization total for the pandemic -- 984 people were hospitalized on May 5, according to the state's COVID-19 dashboard.
UPDATED 2:30 P.M.: Missouri's rolling positive COVID-19 test rate shot up to 10.6 percent Thursday as the state reported 1,062 new cases.
The seven-day rolling rate shows the percentage of those tested who were positive for COVID-19 over the past seven days. The number was at 9.9 percent on Wednesday.
State leaders have said the positive rate has increased this summer as the novel coronavirus spreads further in areas around the state. Several Mid-Missouri counties have reported increases coinciding with the surge in cases statewide. That surge has pushed Boone into the top 10 statewide for cases.
The 1,062 new cases Thursday brings the total since the state of the pandemic to 56,383. The state reported seven new deaths to reach 1,280.
The number of new cases has stabilized somewhat since hitting a record a week ago at 2,084. Gov. Mike Parson said Wednesday that the state has worked through a backlog that led to thousands of tests being put into the state tracking system late.
Parson said there was no delay in alerting patients or local health authorities to test results because of the backlog.
The hospitalization data posted on the state's online COVID-19 dashboard changed significantly in the past day. On Wednesday the dashboard showed 882 people hospitalized with COVID-19 statewide as of Sunday.
On Thursday that number was 637. The state reported 477 hospitalizations as of Monday, the last day for which information was available. The way the number is measured has apparently changed since the White House mandated a shift in how the numbers were reported last month.
However, it wasn't immediately clear why the numbers were revised between Wednesday afternoon and Thursday.
State officials have said the average age of COVID-19 patients is dropping. The average age of those who have tested positive stood at 43 on Thursday.
UPDATED 10:25 A.M.: Four people have tested positive for COVID-19 following open testing at the Missouri Capitol, The Associated Press reported.
The state health department on Wednesday said 228 lawmakers, staffers and other Capitol workers were tested in total. The health department offered free testing in advance of lawmakers returning to work for an ongoing special session on crime.
Statewide, the health department reported another 1,241 confirmed positive cases Wednesday. Of those tested statewide in the past week, close to 10 percent were positive for COVID-19.
A new federal report lists Missouri as among 21 states in the “red zone” for the outbreak.
ORIGINAL: Missouri unemployment claims continue to fall as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.
The Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations said on its website 10,829 Missourians filed for jobless benefits over the last week.
Initial unemployment claims fell by nearly 4,000 from the week before and hit the lowest level since the pandemic started, according to the website.
Thursday's unemployment data was almost three times higher than the number of claims submitted before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
At least 758,452 state residents have filed for unemployment claims since mid-March.
About 1.2 million Americans filed first-time jobless claims last week, down slightly from 1.4 million claims in the previous week.
