FRIDAY UPDATES: Randolph County reports new COVID-19 death; Boone County reports 53 new cases
UPDATE 4:50 P.M.: Randolph County is reporting one new death related to COVID-19 today. The county currently is reporting five deaths total.
The county currently has 149 active cases and a total of 440 coronavirus cases.
12 people are still hospitalized due to the virus.
Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services is reporting 53 new COVID-19 cases today. That brings the total to 5,132 since March.
There are 10 new active cases, bringing the total active cases to 316.
The county is reporting 11 new cases for the 18-22 age group. That brings the total to 2,349.
The county is also reporting 43 new recoveries, bringing the total number of recoveries to 4,751.
The health department is reporting no issues regarding Boone County hospitals. There are currently 58 patients hospitalized in Boone County, 27 of them are in ICU, and 16 are on a ventilator.
CPS has also updated their 14-day rate with the current rate at 33.8. That number is .9 higher than Thursday.
City of Columbia halts utility disconnections
UPDATE 3:05 P.M.: The city of Columbia said in a news release Friday that it is halting utility disconnections until Oct. 26.
The city had been set to resume disconnections this week after they were paused in the spring amid the COVID-19 pandemic and associated economic downturn. City officials said customers owe more than $4 million in back payments, raising questions from the city's credit rating agency.
The city's utilities director told the Columbia City Council on Monday that disconnections had not yet taken place because more than half of those with delinquent accounts came forward to pay their bills, which tied up utility employees.
The city is working with Central Missouri Community Action to help provide financial assistance for utility customers who qualify for it. Columbia Water and Light also encourages anyone who is behind on payments to sign up for a payment plan.
Boone County has seen nearly 14,700 unemployment claims because of COVID-19 since March, according to state data.
Miller County records two more virus deaths
UPDATE 2:07 P.M.: Miller County health officials reported two more COVID-19 deaths on Friday.
A post on the Miller County Health Center Facebook page said 11 county residents have now died because of coronavirus.
The post said no personal information of the individuals would be released.
As of Friday, 657 people in the county have tested positive and 72 actively had COVID-19, the health center said.
County officials reported that five have died from coronavirus since the beginning of October.
More Southern Boone students exposed to coronavirus; state explains record deaths
UPDATE 11:10 A.M.: Dozens of additional students in the Southern Boone School District were put in quarantine this week because of exposure to coronavirus.
Southern Boone administrators sent home letters to parents Wednesday and Thursday about the exposures. The letter dated Wednesday says 35 students and one employee had to quarantine after exposure in the middle school.
The letter dated Thursday said another three middle school students were told to quarantine because of exposure.
Superintendent Chris Felmlee said some students were also exposed to the virus in a local soccer program outside of school.
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services reports on its online COVID-19 dashboard that 31 school-age children in the Southern Boone boundaries have tested positive for coronavirus since March 1. The numbers date back to Sept. 29.
State clarifies high death count
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services said Friday's record COVID-19 death count was caused by analyzing death certificates.
The department reported 136 COVID-19 deaths on Friday, which was more than 50 deaths higher than the previous record. The department said most of those deaths happened in September and were spread out across Missouri.
Ten of the newly counted deaths were from August and one was from July, the department reported.
The count includes deaths in Mid-Missouri counties: one in Audrain, three in Boone, one in Callaway, two in Cole, one in Osage, one in Pettis and one in Randolph.
The state has now recorded 2,395 deaths related to the novel coronavirus since the pandemic began.
University of Missouri cancels in-person fall graduation ceremony
UPDATE 10:30 A.M.: The University of Missouri said Friday morning it canceled its in-person fall graduation ceremony because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In an email sent out to students, University of Missouri Provost Latha Ramchand said a virtual event will be held instead and that more details would come out later in the semester.
The email said MU will hold an in-person event for the class of 2020 in the future.
"At this time, we cannot set dates for an in-person ceremony, but we will do so as soon as it is logistically feasible and safe from a public health perspective," Ramchand said in the email.
MU and other Mid-Missouri universities canceled in-person events for spring commencement ceremonies earlier this year.
Missouri daily COVID-19 deaths set new record
Missouri COVID-19 deaths reported each day set a new record on Friday with 136 new deaths.
Data posted by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services said the state had 2,395 coronavirus deaths since the pandemic started, up from 2,259 reported on Thursday.
The previous record for coronavirus deaths in a day was 83 set on Sept. 23. A backlog of COVID-19 cases caused the spike in deaths, the health department said.
Statewide COVID-19 cases increased by 2,008. The health department said 139,164 have tested positive on Friday, up from 137,156 reported on Thursday.
Missouri was seventh in the nation for new coronavirus cases and deaths over the past week, according to the website.
The health department said Missouri's seven-day COVID-19 positivity rate was 13.9%.
COVID-19 hospitalizations have fallen over the last day. State health workers said 1,303 Missourians were in the hospital because of the virus on Friday, down from a record high of 1,352 reported 24 hours ago.
The seven-day average for hospitalizations was at 1,224.
Missouri COVID-19 tests surpassed 2 million Friday morning, health officials said.
