WEDNESDAY UPDATES: Local districts report COVID-19 cases
UPDATE 9:55 P.M.: Moberly Public School District and Jefferson City School District report the latest COVID-19 cases affecting their respective districts.
In Moberly, the district reported one staff member at the high school and one middle school student tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Three students are being quarantined due to being in close contact.
This week, the district has reported two students tested positive and seven staff members tested positive. The district has reported 10 students and two staff quarantined.
In Jefferson City School District, four students tested positive; three from Jefferson City High School and one from Thomas Jefferson Middle School.
The Jefferson City School District is reporting four staff members in the the district one each at Moreau Heights, Thomas Jefferson middle School, Capital City High School and Jefferson City High School.
Three students and two staff are considered close contacts.
Cole County reports second-highest number of COVID-19 cases
UPDATE 6:30 P.M.: Cole County Health Department is reporting 104 new cases, the second-highest one day number for the county.
The highest case day was on Saturday/Halloween when 124 cases were reported.
The county is reporting 3,403 total COVID-19 cases since the pandemic started.
The health department is reporting 491 active cases in the county.
CPS 14-day tracker moves past 50
UPDATE 4:52 P.M.: According to the Columbia Public School dashboard, the district is reporting a 14-day rate of 54.2, an increase of 6.2 cases.
This is the first the 14-day rate is above 50 since Sept. 20.
The 50 case level is just one of several pieces of information the district uses to figure out whether students are all virtual or hybrid learning according to CPS Community Relations Director Michelle Baumstark.
Baumstark says there needs to be stability in the number, that has been quantified at previous meetings as cycles so a day up or a day down is not a trigger.
The district is reporting three more staff tested positive today and 11 were quarantined due to the pandemic.
According to the dashboard, 91 staff currently quarantining while 25 staff has tested positive for the virus.
The district is reporting staff out with COVID-19 at 13 of 21 elementary schools, five out of seven middle schools and three out of four high schools.
Currently, only three schools (two elementary and one high school) are not reporting any student with a coronavirus case.
CPS dashboard is reporting 16 positive student cases and 463 students being forced to quarantine.
Currently, there are 34 high school, 50 middle school, and 365 elementary students quarantined.
There are six positive cases at the elementary schools, one case at the middle school level and seven at the high school level.
Boone County reports 25% ICU filled
UPDATE 4:35 P.M.: Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services is reporting 114 hospitalizations due to COVID-19, an increase of 9 from Tuesday and a record.
The health department is reporting this is 15 new hospitalizations since Oct. 30.
Currently there are 32 COVID-19 patients currently in the ICU. That accounts for 25-percent of all ICU beds in Boone County. There are 130 ICU beds, 32 at Boone Hospital Center and 98 at MU Health Care according to Eric Maze at MU Health Care.
According to the numbers posted on the department's COVID-19 dashboard, 22 of the 105 patients are from Boone County.
The number of patients on a ventilator is reported to be 19.
According to the dashboard, there are no issues or shortages within local hospitals.
Boone County recorded the second-highest new COVID-19 case total Wednesday with 181 new cases. The record is 221 set on Sept. 4.
Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services Assistant Director Scott Clardy says, "We're still going through the cases, but we haven't identified any specific reporting delays or any common factors that stand out among cases."
According to the Columbia/Boone Co. Public Health & Human Services there are 6,712 total cases in the county, with 642 of those being active.
The number of cases removed from isolation is 6,053.
The five-day average is trending upward after an increase to 91 cases.
Boone County is reporting a positive rate at 17.9% from Oct. 23 to Oct. 29. That is a 5.8% increase from the previously reported week.
4th CPS school moves to virtual learning
UPDATE 3:46 P.M.: CPS is reporting Alpha Hart Lewis Elementary School will move to virtual learning beginning Thursday.
Students will be able to return in-person on November 17.
CPS reports this is the fourth school that will transition back to virtual learning as a result of staffing issues related to illness.
According to the CPS COVID-19 dashboard, there is 84 staff currently quarantined due to COVID-19. There are also 23 positive cases affecting staff.
The district reported three new cases between Tuesday and Wednesday. Two staff are also being quarantined because of close contact.
Miller County reports 27th COVID-19 related death
UPDATE 3:33 P.M.: Miller County Health Center is reporting the 27th COVID-19 related death.
Of the 27 deaths, 17 were from long term care facilities. The county has the third highest number of deaths in mid-Missouri behind Pettis (28) and Camden County (36).
According to the health center, the county reported 17 new total cases since March.
The health center says there are 146 active cases in the county, two new cases since their last on Monday.
The county has a reported 951 recoveries.
Derby Ridge Elementary to switch to online-only learning
UPDATE 2:05 P.M.: Students at another Columbia elementary school will be learning from home when classes start again Thursday.
Columbia Public Schools said Wednesday that Derby Ridge Elementary is moving to all-online instruction because of staffing issues related to COVID-19 cases and exposures. Derby Ridge students will return to the classroom Nov. 17.
Students are out of school Tuesday and Wednesday this week for teacher work days.
Ridgeway Elementary went to all-online learning at the end of last week. Students there will return Nov. 12. Preschool classrooms at the Center for Early Learning -- North have also moved online. They will return to the building Nov. 19, the district said.
Elementary students across the district returned to classrooms Oct. 19 after learning online-only starting Sept. 8. Middle and high school students continue to learn online with no return date set.
District spokeswoman Michelle Baumstark said in an email that the district has a large pool of substitutes but few are accepting positions in classrooms.
The district reported Wednesday that 203 staff members are in quarantine because of cornavirus exposure and another 74 have tested positive for the virus. Those numbers jumped this week, with 19 staff members put on quarantine Monday and another 16 on Tuesday.
California School District to go online until December
UPDATE 1:10 P.M.: Students in the California School District in Moniteau County will learn from home until next month.
Superintendent Dwight Sanders wrote in a message to parents posted on the school's Facebook page that students will start learning online Monday and return to classrooms Dec. 3.
The decision was prompted by the 273 students and staff in quarantine because of exposure to coronavirus. Another 25 students and staff have tested positive for the virus.
Sanders wrote that the number of faculty in quarantine is "making it impossible to have adequate staffing to maintain our preferred face-to-face instructional approach."
The district has about 1,400 students, according to state data.
Sanders said the district hopes the extended online learning period will allow the current spike in coronavirus cases to subside.
Moniteau County has 137 active cases, according to the county health center's online COVID-19 dashboard. That number has risen by nearly 30 in the last week. Only one of those cases is in a congregated living facility. Twelve people with COVID-19 have died in Moniteau County.
The health center posted on its Facebook page that the volume of new cases means contact tracing investigations could be delayed.
Fulton middle, high schools to go online
UPDATE NOON: The duration of online learning has been corrected to five days.
Middle and high school students in Fulton will switch to all-online learning for five days starting Friday.
The district said in a letter to parents Wednesday that the increase in the number of students and staff in COVID-19 quarantine necessitated the change. Other buildings in the district will operate as normal, the district said.
Students will be sent home with their Chromebooks and learning materials on Friday, according to the letter. Meals for students will be available at Fulton High School.
School is out Monday for a teacher work day.
The Fulton Early Childhood Center is already closed because of 71 students and staff in quarantine, according to the district's website. However, it is expected to reopen Thursday.
The district reported 266 students and staff quarantined as of Wednesday, with 14 positive COVID-19 cases in the district. The district reported two new positives Wednesday.
Callaway County has 489 active cases, but 257 of them are in Missouri Department of Corrections facilities.
Elective procedures continue at Boone Hospital
UPDATE 11:45 A.M.: Boone Hospital Center will continue elective procedures despite a halt to them at other BJC HealthCare hospitals.
BJC, which will operate Boone Hospital until it becomes independent on April 1, said this week that it is suspending elective procedures at several of its hospitals as an upward trend in new COVID-19 cases continues. The hospitals are all in the St. Louis area -- Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Christian Hospital, Memorial Hospital Belleville and Missouri Baptist Medical Center..
The restriction will stay in place through Nov. 20 and will be reassessed, BJC said in a statement.
Boone County's hospitals are treating a record number of patients with COVID-19, according to local health authorities. Hospitals reported 105 patients with COVID-19 on Wednesday, with 31 of them in intensive care, according to Boone County's online COVID-19 dashboard.
Boone Hospital Center had 26 patients with COVID-19 as of Tuesday afternoon, according to the hospital's website.
Missouri 7-day positivity rate sets new record, 29.2%
UPDATE 11:14 A.M.: Missouri's seven-day COVID-19 positivity rate reached new highs on Wednesday going up to 29.2%.
The state calculated rate had fallen slightly on Tuesday after the rate was on the rise for about two weeks, the Missouri Department of Heatlh and Senior Services.
By state calculations the rate went up 0.7% over the last 24 hours.
Coronavirus cases went up to 193,023, at least 2,599 higher from the day before. Testing went up about 17,000 to 2.6 million over the same amount of time.
The health department said 24 more Missourians died from the virus. According to state data, 3,088 have died from the virus since the pandemic started.
Health officials say 1,632 state residents were hospitalized because of COVID-19 on Saturday, the most recent data available from the health department.
JC Schools add 28 COVID-19 cases
Jefferson City Schools added 28 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, according to the district's virus tracking website.
Students at Belair Elementary, Cedar Hill Elementary, both middle schools and high schools tested positive for COVID-19. The district said in all, 19 student cases were added in the last day.
Nine staff members tested positive, the website said. The staff members work at Callaway Hills Elementary, at both middle schools and high schools, as well as, the Nichols Career Center.
The school district said 41 students and four staff members were considered close contacts from the new cases.
Since the fall semester started 258 have tested positive across the district and 378 were labeled close contacts.
