THURSDAY UPDATES: Centralia homecoming moved due to COVID

UPDATE 8:45 P.M.: Due to cancellation of Homecoming activities previously scheduled for Friday night at the Football game, Centralia High School will conduct its Coronation ceremony at the high school gym Friday afternoon.

Members of the court will gather at 1 pm in the gym, and the ceremony will begin shortly after. The ceremony will also be recorded and streamed live via the Panther Broadcast YouTube channel.

Each member of the court may invite their parents to attend and take pictures. Parents may check-in at the front office at 12:50 pm.

Pettis and Camden County report COVID-19 related deaths

UPDATE 6:30 P.M.: Pettis County Health Center is reporting one new COVID-19 related death. That brings the total to 22, the second-highest in the area.

There is a total of 249 active cases in Pettis County, 12 higher than last reported.

The department is also reporting 36 new cases in the county, bringing the total to 1,311. The county is reporting 13 new recoveries, with that total rising to 1,030.

Two people have been taken off the hospitalized list bringing that total down to 10.

Camden County Health Department is reporting two weeks of totals for Sept. 25 through Oct. 8.

The county health department is reporting 359 total new cases. The number of active cases has risen 37 from 212 to 249 in the two weeks.

The county is also reporting 402 recoveries in the same two week period.

However, the number of deaths has gone from 16 to 28 with 10 of the deaths happening in September. Camden County has the highest number of COVID-19 reported deaths in the Mid-Missouri area.

Boone County active cases remain above 300; CPS 14-day tracker drops to 32.9

UPDATE 5:00 P.M.: Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services is reporting an update to the numbers of coronavirus cases in the county.

According to their release, there are 40 new cases bringing today to 5,079 total cases in Boone County.

The county is also reporting 40 new recoveries bringing the total to 4,751.

The number of current active cases remains at 316.

The number of cases in the 18-22 age group has gone up by 12 to 2,338.

The county health department is also reporting 57 people are currently hospitalized with COVID-19. 23 of the patients are in the ICU. 11 of those patients are on a ventilator.

Columbia Public Schools has updated their 14-day case rate tracker to 32.9.

The 14-day rate is tied for the lowest with last Tuesday's rate.

Callaway County courts move to less-strict COVID-19 protocol

UPDATE 2:50 P.M.: Officials with the 13th Judicial Circuit said Thursday that some in-person hearing will resume in Callaway County, two weeks after a courthouse employee tested positive for coronavirus.

The courts moved into Phase 1 of the Missouri Supreme Court's COVID-19 directives on Sept. 24 when an employee tested positive, putting a halt to many in-person hearings. In Phase 1, only the most critical hearings and meetings can be held and courtroom occupancy is limited to 10.

The move to Phase 2 on Thursday allows hearings to accommodate up to 25 people, according to a release form the office of the court administrator. Social distancing rules are also in place and people inside courtrooms must wear masks.

The operating rules apply only to the court, not the entire courthouse, the administrator's office said.

Centralia Homecoming game at South Shelby canceled because of COVID-19

UPDATE 12:40 P.M.: The Centralia High School football team will no longer have its Homecoming game Friday at South Shelby.

However, the school has found a replacement opponent.

A Twitter account associated with Centralia's athletics program posted Thursday that the game at South Shelby had been canceled "due to COVID concerns." The post did not specify the nature of the concerns.

Centralia had been planning to make the game its Homecoming matchup. The Centralia royalty ceremony was to take place on the South Shelby field.

The same Twitter account later said Centralia had secured a replacement game at Bowling Green with kickoff at 7 p.m. Friday. The district said Homecoming festivities are on hold.

State COVID-19 hospitalizations jump to new high

UPDATE 9:50 A.M.: The number of patients with COVID-19 in Missouri's hospitals jumped by more than 100 Wednesday, hitting the highest level of the pandemic.

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services reported Thursday that 1,344 Missourians were hospitalized the previous day. That's up from 1,241 the day before.

The seven-day average of hospitalizations in the state also hit a new high at nearly 1,205.

Hospitalizations in the central region of the state were at 110, down from a peak of 115 to start the week. However, the weekly average reached a new high at more than 109.

The state reported 1,505 new cases Thursday for a total of 137,156 since the pandemic started. Deaths rose by 23 to 2,259.

The state had a 13.5% positivity rate, ranked eighth nationwide in new cases and 13th in deaths for the week that ended Monday, according to the state's online COVID-19 dashboard. Several Mid-Missouri counties -- Cooper, Moniteau, Camden and Osage -- each had positivity rates higher than the 10% that experts say indicates wide spread of the coronavirus.

Missouri unemployment claims increase

ORIGINAL: Missouri initial jobless claims increased in the first week of October.

The increase in unemployment benefits broke a four-week streak of falling claims.

The Missouri Department of Labor said 8,797 state residents applied for unemployment assistance, up more than 1,400 from the week before.

Statewide claims have mostly fallen since April.

Another 840,000 Americans filed for first-time jobless benefits last week, the US Labor Department said.