TUESDAY UPDATES: CPS 14-day rate continues to rise; Cole County reports 65 new COVID-19 cases

UPDATE 6:02 P.M.: Columbia Board of Education 14-day rate tracker has reached 85 cases per 10,000. This is the highest it has been since early September. The district is reporting 96 new cases Tuesday.

The district is reporting two new teachers tested positive and 10 were considered close contacts. The district currently has 15 teachers that have COVID-19 and 124 on quarantine.

Currently the district is reporting three more students tested positive for COVID-19 and 29 were considered close contacts.The district is reporting 38 students are positive with COVID-19 and 553 that are quarantined due to possible exposure.

Cole County Health Department is reporting 63 new total cases and 3,990 total cases since the pandemic started.

The county is reporting 539 active cases; which is the same as Monday.

The county reports 62 new recoveries with a total 3,253.

Moniteau County reports 14th COVID-19 related death

UPDATE 5:27 P.M.: Moniteau County Health Center is reporting the 14th COVID-19 related death.

The health center reports the resident was in their 70’s.

The county's dashboard is reporting 27 new cases today bringing the overall today to 1,057. The dashboard reports this is a 25% in new cases and hospitalizattions have doubled.

The number of people that have recovered is 824.

The number of active cases is up 10 to 219. This has been a gradual increase from Oct. 26 when active cases was a reported 83.

The county has had a reported 257 cases since November began; in October the number of cases was a reported 428.

Boone County adds color-coded system to dashboard for hospital capacity

UPDATE 4:48 P.M.: Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services COVID-19 dashboard has added a new feature showing local hospital capacity levels using a color-coded system.

According to the dashboard, each hospital will give Boone County one of three statuses.

Green

• Operating within licensed bed capacity; accepting patient transfers from referring hospitals within standard care operating procedures.

Yellow

Operating within standard capacity and meeting any of the following criteria:

• Delaying non-emergency patient transfers from referring hospitals due to capacity for greater than two (2) days, or
• Delaying non-emergency patient transfers from referring hospitals due to staffing for greater than two (2) consecutive days, or
• Delaying non-urgent procedures and operations to provide additional inpatient capacity

Red

• Expansion of care for patients above and beyond standard capacity, diversion or delays from own Emergency Department due to staffing or capacity at any time for greater than two (2) consecutive days.

Currently, the dashboard is reporting a yellow status. The dashboard says yellow status is if two hospitals report yellow or one hospital reports red. The dashboard does not say which hospital is reporting what status.

Overall, Boone County is reporting 144 new COVID-19 cases.

The number of active cases increased from 958 to 1,014. Another 1,793 people are in quarantine because of coronavirus exposure.

The county is currently at 131 cases for the five-day average, a drop of 15 from Monday. The 5-day average peaked at its highest on Sunday at 168.

The department is reporting 142 hospitalizations. Currently, there are 46 COVID-19 patients in the ICU.

According to the numbers posted on the department's COVID-19 dashboard, 29 of the 142 patients are from Boone County.

The department reports 23 patients on ventilators.

MU Health is reporting 61 active inpatient cases and 37 pending inpatient cases. At Boone Hospital, the hospital is reporting 40 inpatients with COVID-19.

Cooper County reports four COVID-19 related deaths

UPDATE 3:57 P.M.: Cooper County Health Center is reporting four deaths associated with COVID-19. This brings the total in the county to six deaths.

According to the health center, the county last reported updates on Nov. 4 there has been an increase of total cases of 131 to 957 total.

Officials report the number of active cases has dropped 19 to 124 overall.

There has been 146 reported recoveries bringing the new total to 827.

According to the Missouri Hospital Association, Cooper County has a reported positive rate of 32.2% for the week of Oct. 25 through Oct. 31. The state of Missouri's positive rate for the same time is 17.5%.

Staffing issues shut down the majority of Missouri River Regional Library in Jefferson City

UPDATE 3:42 P.M.: A staffing shortage has shut down the majority of the Missouri River Regional Library location in Jefferson City.

The library will be closed from Thursday through Sunday and staffing levels will be evaluated to figure out when it is safe to reopen.

The Computer Center will remain open during normal operating hours.

Officials say the library is still open for check out through curbside pickup. You can use the library's website to check books out. You can also return materials in the drop boxes located outside.

Miller County reports six COVID-19 related deaths

UPDATE 3:15 P.M.: Miller County Health Center is reporting six new COVID-19 related deaths. This brings the total number of deaths in the county to 34, the second-highest behind Pettis County.

The state recently changed the day in which it updates COVID-19 associated deaths from Friday to Monday.

According to the Miller County COVID-19 dashboard, there are 32 new coronavirus cases in the county.

There has a five case drop in active cases from 174 to 169.

The county is reporting 31 new recoveries bringing the total to 1,059 cases.

Boone County hospitals to start COVID-19 surge plans

UPDATE 2:15 P.M.: Boone County's hospitals will begin to implement surge plans as the rising number of COVID-19 patients continues to strain their capacity.

The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services said in a news release that each hospital will implement its own individual plan. The release was a joint statement from leaders at the health department, Boone Hospital Center, University of Missouri Health Care and Truman Memorial Veterans' Hospital.

Boone County's hospitals were treating 142 patients with COVID-19 as of Monday afternoon -- a record for the pandemic. Of those patients, 49 are in intensive care and 21 are on ventilators.

Boone Hospital leadership said in a memo to employees on Friday that it quickly filled its COVID-19 unit in September and has had to turn away dozens of patients.

"Each healthcare system has had to divert patients, defer referrals from other hospitals or issue bed holding status in response to this increased capacity," the hospitals said in the joint statement Tuesday. "Our staff continues to be stretched thin as they respond and provide care for both patients with and without COVID."

Hospitalizations continue at record levels across the state, as well. State leaders have said they're concerned about staffing levels statewide as the number of new coronavirus cases continues to increase.

Local hospitals' surge plans could include changing staffing procedures, postponing some elective surgeries and changing visitor policies.

The health department also said in the statement that it will change the way it reports hospital resources to try to create a more accurate picture of how COVID-19 is affecting those institutions. Each hospital will provide a daily report of its status based on three tiers -- red, yellow and green.

The health department will take those reports and create a status for the combined hospitals. More information is available on the health department website.

UPDATE NOON: The Audrain County Health Department issued a mask advisory Tuesday, encouraging residents and visitors to wear masks as a way to slow the rapid spread of coronavirus in the county.

“Audrain County residents are resilient and strong,” ACHD department administrator and CEO Craig Brace said in the release. “They are willing to do the right thing when called upon in support of their families and neighbors. We will get through this together as we comply with public health protocols.”

The release emphasized that the advisory is not a mandate.

The health department also posted a notice Tuesday on its Facebook page saying the new case load is lengthening the amount of time it takes to conduct contact investigations.

The health department reported 115 active cases Monday and 663 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began. The active case number increase by 30 since Friday.

The Missouri Department of Corrections reported 93 active inmate cases at the women's prison in Vandalia. Another 25 of the prison's staff have active cases. Eight county residents have died with COVID-19.

Columbia Burger King cited for violating mask ordinance

UPDATE 10:37 A.M.: Columbia/Boone County health officials cited the Burger King restaurant on 3400 Clark Lane for violating the city's mask ordinance recently.

A notice of violation posted on the health department website said officials inspected the restaurant on Nov. 2 after receiving a complaint.

The notice of violation said several workers were seen wearing masks with their noses exposed and one was seen not wearing a face covering.

The restaurant is accused of violating the mask ordinance for the second time, health officials said. A previous inspection in August revealed multiple employees were masks incorrectly.

Missouri adds 4,200 cases, positivity rate continues to rise

Missouri's COVID-19 positivity rate continues to increase after the state added more than 4,200 coronavirus cases on Tuesday.

According to the state health department's COVID-19 dashboard, total coronavirus cases went up to 216,697 with an increase of 4,256 since Monday.

The increase is the second-highest amount added in a day since Saturday's 4,559.

The state added 146 virus-related deaths over the last day. Health officials said Monday night it reported 138 new deaths after analyzing recent death certificates. Missouri eight more deaths on top of Monday night's increase.

Missouri's seven-day COVID-19 positivity rate went up to 39.4%, a new high during the pandemic. The rate went up an additional 1.7% over the last day.

According to the dashboard, the state has reported 24,177 new cases over the last seven days and 123,357 have been tested over the same length of time.

Statewide hospitalizations also set records on Tuesday going up to 2,055. It broke Monday's record by 5.