FRIDAY UPDATES: Cole County sets daily COVID-19 case record; Howard County sees first death
UPDATE 8:50 P.M.: Cole County set a new record for new daily COVID-19 cases Friday, while Howard county recorded its first death from the disease caused by novel coronavirus.
The Cole County Health Department reported 41 new cases to bring the county's total to 944. The county has recorded 116 cases so far in September, not including cases in long-term care facilities.
The old record was 38, recorded Aug. 15.
The high numbers in September continue a case surge that began earlier this summer in Cole County. The county logged 484 of its COVID-19 cases in August.
The health department has reported 10 deaths -- seven of them in nursing homes. That's the highest number of deaths reported by any Mid-Missouri county.
Cole County reported 123 active cases Friday.
The health department has released its weekly dashboard, which shows a 11.31 percent positivity rate for the week that ended Aug. 26. The rate is a measure of the percentage of people tested for novel coronavirus who get a positive result.
Howard County reported its first death of the pandemic Friday.
The county of about 10,000 had a low number of cases for much of the pandemic but has seen a surge in positives starting last month as students returned to Central Methodist University.
The Howard County Public Health Department announced the death on its Facebook page but did not give any details.
Howard County now has 190 total COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began with 75 of them active. Two weeks ago the county had 81 cases with 22 active.
Boone County reports third day in a row with 100-plus COVID-19 cases
UPDATE 4:30 P.M.: Boone County health officials reported 117 more cases of COVID-19 on Friday, making it the third day in a row with triple-digit gains.
The new cases bring the county's total to 3,110 since the pandemic began. The number of active cases passed the 900 mark Friday, settling at 903. Another 1,275 people were in quarantine because of exposure to novel coronavirus.
The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services reported earlier Friday that the county took six days to go from 2,500 cases to 3,000.
The rapid rise in cases is part of a summer surge that began in July but picked up steam in August as college students returned to Columbia. Local health officials have said increases in positive tests in that population are driving much of the overall jump in cases.
On Friday, 87 of the new cases came from the 18-22 age group.
The five-day average of new daily cases rose to 115.6 on Friday, which is the highest mark of the pandemic. Boone County has set two records for daily case counts in the past week. The record is now 168 cases, reported Wednesday.
The county's hospitals reported 39 patients with COVID-19, according to the health department's online COVID-19 hub. The record of 46 was set a week ago.
Fourteen of those patients were in intensive care and five were on ventilators.
The health department said it did not have updated information on tests or the county's positivity rate because it hasn't received all of the needed data. The rate measures how many people tested for COVID-19 in a given week get a positive result.
The increase Friday pushed the rate of cases over the last 14 days in the Columbia Public Schools district to 77.6. CPS has tracked the number as a guide to help determine whether classes take place in person.
The suggested number for going to all-online classes is 50. The school board this week approved starting the school year with classes only online.
School starts Tuesday.
School board members have pledged to continue to monitor case numbers and re-evaluate whether classes can take place in person.
Two more COVID-19 deaths reported in Miller County
UPDATE 3:55 P.M.: Miller County reported its second and third deaths from COVID-19 on Friday.
The Miller County Health Center reported the deaths on its Facebook page and in its online COVID-19 dashboard. The health center did not release any details about the people who died.
The health center reported an additional 14 positive novel coronavirus cases Friday, bringing the county's total to 294. The number of active cases dropped 10 and now stands at 37.
The health center said in its Facebook post that county residents should wear masks when they can't maintain social distance.
Several deaths have been reported in Mid-Missouri this week, including two in Cole County and one Thursday in Audrain County.
Missouri COVID-19 cases top 90,000 - state sees increase in deaths
UPDATE 2:53 P.M.: The Missouri health department said COVID-19 cases topped out at 90,125 and the state saw an increase in coronavirus deaths on Friday.
A tweet from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services said the Show-Me State added 1,605 COVID-19 cases, as well as, 17 coronavirus deaths over the last 24 hours.
Statewide COVID-19 deaths rose to 1,562 on Friday.
The health department included positive cases increased because of a delay in reporting from a laboratory.
Health officials said a few hundred cases were added to Friday's count after the lab "did not report any test results to (the health department) until recently."
The health department said 1.02 million tests have been administered in the state - 8.7% of the tests have come back positive.
University of Missouri active COVID-19 cases account for 2% of student population
UPDATE 1:30 P.M.: University of Missouri students that actively have COVID-19 now account for 2-percent of the student population after an increase posted on Friday.
The MU Show Me Renewal website said 69 students tested positive for coronavirus over the last 24 hours.
The increase brought active cases to 551, up 35 from 516 reported Thursday. Students who recovered from coronavirus stood at 280 on Friday, an increase of 34 over the same length of time.
According to the website, 822 students have tested positive for COVID-19 since Aug. 19.
Friday marks the second full week of classes at the university since classes started on Aug. 24.
University officials said students enrolled in distance programs will not be factored into the daily COVID-19 reports after Friday.
The website included the next COVID-19 update would come out on Tuesday because of Labor Day.
Audrain County reports nursing home outbreak
Audrain County reported 38 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday evening, driven by an outbreak at a nursing home.
The county's COVID-19 case total rose to 313 with the Thursday additions. Active cases rose by 36 and stood at 64 late Thursday.
The Audrain County Health Department said in a news release that 42 of the active cases are associated with an outbreak at Tri-County Nursing Home. That number includes 24 residents and 18 staff members.
The department did not say whether the outbreak was responsible for the county's second COVID-19 death, which was reported Wednesday. That was the county's first death since June 1.
