TUESDAY UPDATES: Cole County reports 14 new COVID-19 cases
UPDATE 6:20 P.M.: Cole County reported 14 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday, continuing a short streak of lower daily totals after a weeks-long surge.
The 14 cases Tuesday come after the county reported just five new cases Monday. Despite the reprieve from high daily totals the county has still recorded more than 400 cases this month, according to numbers reported on the Cole County Health Department website.
Cole County's record for daily cases is 65, recorded Aug. 15.
Nearly half of the county's cases are from contact with an infected person. County health officials have said many of the cases are contracted because people did not follow guidelines such as mask-wearing and social distancing.
The county's number of active cases dropped by seven and is now at 137.
Several Mid-Missouri counties have seen a similar surge in cases this month. Among them is Miller County, which reported 25 new cases Tuesday for a total of 215. The county's active cases increased 11 to reach 53.
Miller is now among the top 10 counties in the state for fastest COVID-19 case growth by percentage, according to the state's online COVID-19 dashboard.
Other Mid-Missouri counties recording new cases Tuesday include Audrain (2), Howard (5), Randolph (5) and Saline (2).
Boone County reports 70 new cases, hospitalizations reach high
UPDATE 4:45 P.M.: Boone County's new COVID-19 cases jumped sharply higher Tuesday after two days of lower numbers.
The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services reported 70 new cases Tuesday to bring the county's total to 2,065. The department reported 39 more active cases, pushing that number to 424.
The record for new cases in a day is 81, reported Friday.
The number of people hospitalized in Boone County with COVID-19 hit a new high Tuesday, according to the health department's online COVID-19 dashboard. The department reported 39 patients with COVID-19 hospitalized in the county. However, the county's hospitals reported no shortages.
The health department reported 881 people were in quarantine because of virus exposure Tuesday.
The county has seen a surge in cases this summer that has accelerated over the past week as college students came back to town. The University of Missouri reported Monday that 159 of its students living here have active cases of COVID-19. That number will be updated every Wednesday.
Boone County has reported 424 new cases in the last seven days. During that span, all but two days have seen cases higher than 50 -- 31 on Monday and 41 on Sunday.
The county's five-day new daily case average was 60.2 on Tuesday.
Of Tuesday's new cases, 44 were in the 20-24 age group that officials say is powering the large increases. That age range is responsible for 678 of the county's cases since the pandemic began.
Tuesday's report pushed the number used by Columbia Public Schools to determine its fall class format higher. The number of cases in the district per 10,000 people over the last 14 days is up to 41.8 from the 39.1 reported Monday. That number was at 24.2 just a week ago.
With the number where it currently is, students will be in class two days a week and learn online the other three days. If the number dips below 10, students will be in class five days a week. If it reaches 50, CPS will halt in-person classes.
School begins Sept. 8.
CPS leaders said Monday that they are worried the numbers could push even higher and scrap current plans for having students in class twice a week.
COVID-19 claims two more Pettis County residents
UPDATE 3:20 P.M.: Two more Pettis County residents have died of COVID-19.
The Pettis County Health Center announced the deaths Tuesday afternoon in its daily COVID-19 case numbers update on Facebook. The health center gave no details about those who died, including their ages.
Eight Pettis County residents have now died from complications of COVID-19. The health center reported its sixth death Monday.
Pettis County reported 10 more cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday for a total of 715. The number of active cases dropped by two and stood at 122 on Tuesday.
Pettis County is experiencing rapid growth in cases after emerging as a hot spot for the novel coronavirus early in the pandemic then cooling off. The county of about 42,000 people has reported 65 cases over the last week.
The county has the second-highest number of cases per 100,000 people of any county in Mid-Missouri at 1,754. Saline County has 2,293 cases per 100,000 people, according to the state's online COVID-19 dashboard.
Pettis County health officials have instituted a mask order but it is under legal challenge.
Boone County exceeds 2,000 cases
Boone County went past 2,000 COVID-19 cases Tuesday, the county health department reported.
The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services released a graphic on its social media accounts Tuesday showing the number of days the county took to reach its latest 500 case.
It took 12 days for the county to go from 1,500 cases to 2,000 cases -- a period that includes the record for daily cases of 81 reported Friday.
It took 20 days for the county to go from 1,000 to 1,500 cases, according to the graphic.
"Based on this data and the increasing number of cases in Boone County, it's imperative that everyone social distance from those outside of their household, wear a mask in public spaces, wash their hands regularly and disinfect all shared surfaces," the department said in the message accompanying the graphic.
Many of the new cases have been in the college-age population. Local officials have pleaded with college students not to attend parties or other crowded settings in order to slow the spread of novel coronavirus.
Boone County reported its sixth death from COVID-19 this week.
Missouri's new COVID-19 cases, positivity rate drop
UPDATE 2:30 P.M.: Missouri saw its third straight day with fewer than 1,000 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday.
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services reported 692 new cases Tuesday, a drop of 177 compared to the new cases reported Monday. The last time the state reported more than 1,000 cases was Saturday, with 1,293 new novel coronavirus infections reported.
The total since the pandemic started now stands at 76,636.
The state reported 14 deaths for a total of 1,440 since the pandemic started.
The seven-day positivity rate -- a measure of the number of people tested for COVID-19 who get a positive result -- dropped to 11.4 percent Tuesday from the 11.6 percent reported Monday. Experts say rates higher than 10 percent are cause for concern.
The average age of those who have tested positive for COVID-19 continues to decline and was at 40 years old on Tuesday. Health officials have said more young people are testing positive for COVID-19. While young, healthy people are less vulnerable to the worst effects of COVID-19 they can still spread the novel coronavirus to more vulnerable people.
The state reports about 924,000 Missourians have been tested for COVID-19.
After falling below 900 on Friday, hospitalizations climbed back above that mark on Saturday, settling at 925. Hospital data is delayed 72 hours.
The state also added a new feature to its COVID-19 dashboard Tuesday that shows which counties are experiencing a downward trend in new cases. New cases are not falling in several local counties, according to the map. Those counties are Boone, Howard, Audrain, Montgomery, Camden, Cole and Osage.
Several Mid-Missouri counties are seeing rapid growth in the rate of new cases per 100,000 population over the last 14 days, according to the state's online COVID-19 dashboard. That includes Boone, Cole, Cooper, Howard, Saline and Pettis.
Saline and Pettis counties are the leaders in the area for most cases per 100,000 population.
Miller County is among the top 10 for fastest case growth by percentage over seven days.
Phelps County reports second COVID-19 death
ORIGINAL: The Phelps-Maries County County Health Department said Monday that a second Phelps County resident has died from COVID-19.
The department reported the death in a post on its Facebook page.
Phelps County has reported 169 total COVID-19 cases and 38 of those are active. Maries County has 36 total COVID-19 cases and six of them are active, the department says.
Phelps County reported its first death Friday.
Boone and Pettis counties have also reported deaths from COVID-19 this week.
