WEDNESDAY UPDATES: One county removes a COVID-19 death, another county removes cases
UPDATE 8:10 P.M.: Cooper County is removing a previously reported death because according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services "individuals who do not have COVID-19 or corona virus listed in the primary or secondary cause of death will not be counted as COVID-19 related."
By using that explanation Cooper County, now is reporting only two deaths and not three.
In the county's latest update since a week ago, there are 59 new total cases bringing the total to 635.
The weekly update also brings the number of active cases down to 54, a 38-percent drop in cases.
The number of recoveries rose by 92 to 579.
The Callaway County Public Health Department decided to drop numbers from the Department of Corrections and Fulton State Hospital because it was "skewing the numbers for the general public."
The department says "In the past, their numbers were included in the count reported in these updates for the county."
Also according to their recent blog update, one more death is being reported in the county, bringing the total to 8.
The number of active cases dropped by 148 to 101 due to the case removal.
Due to the removal of those cases, the number of total cases dropped by 68 to 955. The number of recoveries rose 79 to 846.
Cole County reports three new COVID-19 related deaths
UPDATE: 6:15 P.M.: According to the Cole County Health Department, three more people have died from COVID-19 bringing the overall total to 19. This is the 11th death in the county and eight death from long-term care facilities.
The number of overall cases went up 29 to bring the total for the county to 2,434.
The 29 new cases is the second-lowest in the past week with only Monday's 16 new cases lower.
The number of active cases dropped 14 to 218 overall. The number of recoveries went up 43 to 2,088.
Boone County COVID-19 hospitalizations fall after setting record this week
UPDATE 4:50 P.M.: The number of patients with COVID-19 in Boone County hospitals continued to fall Wednesday from a record high.
The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services reported 85 patients with COVID-19, down from a record 91 reported Monday. The number includes 26 patients in intensive care and 11 on ventilators.
The health department reported 68 new cases Wednesday, an increase of more than 20 compared to Tuesday. The increase helped to bump the county's five-day new case average five points higher to 43 and drove the total since the pandemic started to 5,739.
The 380 active cases reported Wednesday is an increase of 19 over the day before. Another 841 people are in quarantine because of exposure to novel coronavirus.
Wednesday's 68 new cases is the highest daily total since last Thursday, when the county reported 83 new cases.
Miller County reports two more COVID-19-related deaths
UPDATE 2:50 P.M.: The Miller County Health Center reported the deaths of two more residents with COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the county's total to 16.
With the deaths reported Wednesday, Miller County is now tied with Columbia for the number of COVID-19-related deaths. Miller County has an estimated population of about 25,000, compared to Columbia's approximately 180,000.
Boone County also reported its 16th death Wednesday.
Miller County, like many rural Missouri counties, continues to report higher levels of new COVID-19 infections. The county has reported nearly 150 new cases over the last week and active cases have gone from 99 to 128 in that time.
The positivity rate in the county over the last seven days is 43.4%, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. The rate measures the percentage of people tested for COVID-19 who get a positive result.
Health officials say 10% or higher indicates wide spread of the novel coronavirus.
Students to return to Jefferson City middle schools Monday
UPDATE 11:55 A.M.: The Jefferson City School District said Wednesday that students will return to Lewis and Clark and Thomas Jefferson middle schools next week after being out because of a coronavirus-related staff shortage.
The schools switched to online-only learning two weeks ago, citing the number of staff who were in quarantine because of exposure to the coronavirus.
"The Jefferson City School District (JC Schools) believes the past two weeks of distance learning for our middle schools have served to stop any spread of COVID-19 within the school environment and allow time for current cases and quarantines to run their course," the district said in an email announcing the decision Wednesday.
The district said it is vital for families and staff to follow guidelines such as social distancing, hand hygiene and wearing masks to reduce the spread of the virus. The district has reported 177 cases of the virus since school began. Another 269 students and staff have at some point been deemed close contacts.
Cole County continues to see a surge in new COVID-19 cases, reporting 48 on Tuesday. The county has now reported 16 deaths related to the novel coronavirus.
16th Boone County resident dies from coronavirus
UPDATE 10:05 A.M.: The Columbia/Boone County health department says 16 county residents have died from COVID-19.
A Wednesday morning tweet from the health department said the person was between 75-79 years old. The health department said no other information would be released about the individual.
It's the second such announcement this week and the third virus-related death this October.
On Tuesday, Boone County reported 44 new COVID-19 cases bringing the county's total to 5,671. More than 350 of those cases were active as of Tuesday.
Missouri reports 1,200+ new COVID-19 cases
UPDATE 8:48 A.M.: The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services updated its count of COVID-19 cases Wednesday morning.
Since the pandemic started, 160,869 Missourians have tested positive for coronavirus, up 1,244 from Tuesday.
The department's COVID-19 dashboard said 26 more people have died because of COVID-19 bringing the state's total to 2,641.
Department officials said a little more than 12,000 people were tested over the last 24 hours.
Missouri ranked sixth in the nation for new COVID-19 cases and deaths over the last seven days, the dashboard said. Both positions fell since the website was updated Tuesday.
The health department has started calculating the state's coronavirus positivity rate using two methods.
According to department data, the positivity rate was 10.7% when dividing the number of tests by the number of positive results over the last seven days. It was also 21% using the same method but without counting people who were previously tested before the seven-day period.
At least 1,415 state residents were hospitalized because of COVID-19 as of Sunday. The seven-day average for virus-related hospitalizations was 1,424.
The dashboard said a change in how hospitalizations are reported from the US health department caused an under-reporting of hospitalizations on Tuesday and will affect the number going forward.
Cole County school districts report COVID-19 cases
Multiple school districts in Cole County reported new COVID-19 cases recently.
On Tuesday, Jefferson City Schools reported a student at Jefferson City High School had tested positive for COVID-19.
The district's COVID-19 case tracker said four other students were considered close contacts.
Since the semester started, the district has reported 177 coronavirus cases and 269 were considered close contacts.
In the Cole County R-I School District, four staff members tested positive on Tuesday, according to the district's website.
School officials said 19 students were in quarantine from being close contacts of the staff members.
One positive case of COVID-19 was reported at the Cole County R-V Middle School/High School.
A post on the district's website said no staff members tested positive and there were no cases at Eugene Elementary.
