MONDAY UPDATES: Boone County reports 83 new COVID-19 cases, lowest since Dec. 1
Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services is reporting 83 new active cases. That brings the total number of cases to 11,209.
ABC 17 News reported the two new COVID-19 deaths earlier in the day.
The dashboard is currently reporting 935 active cases.
The county has reported total cases removed from isolation is 10,242.
Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services dashboard has reported the latest five-day average as 145, a decrease of 13 from Sunday.
The dashboard is reporting the positivity rate currently sits at 36.2%. That is the highest positivity rate reported, breaking the week of Oct. 30 to Nov. 5 rate of 34.9%.
The health department is reporting the total hospitalizations in Boone County remains at 149 cases.
The number of Boone County residents hospitalized rises by 4 to 33 .
The dashboard is reporting 44 COVID-19 patients in the ICU.
The department reports 16 patients on ventilators.
The hospital status is still currently in the 'yellow' zone.
Audrain County reports three COVID-19 related deaths
Audrain County Health Department is reporting three more COVID-19 related deaths.
Those deaths bring the total number of deaths to 19.
The county has reported 11 COVID-19 related deaths since Nov. 16.
The health department reports 30 more active cases, that brings the total to 170 active cases overall. The city of Mexico has 129 of the active cases, accounting for 76% of all cases in the county.
The county has reported 22 new recoveries, raising the total to 925 cases.
Overall in the county, there have been 1,117 total cases, an increase of 58 cases since Friday.
Boone County reports two COVID-19 deaths; patients in 40s and 50s
Boone County health officials reported two more COVID-19-related deaths Monday after reporting four in four days last week
The deaths, one of a person between the ages of 40-44 and one in the 55-59 age range, bring Boone County's total to 32. Half of those deaths have been reported since the start of November. The deaths reported Monday will be only the second in each of their respective age groups, according to data posted to the county health department's online dashboard.
Health officials released no other information about the cases.
Half of Boone County's deaths have been in people age 80 and older. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has reported 15 deaths in Boone County's nursing homes. That data is current through Nov. 22.
Mid-Missouri and the nation are in the middle of a fall coronavirus case surge, which health experts have said would lead to more deaths. Boone County reported triple-digit increases in cases in five of the past seven days.
The weekend case numbers pushed the number of active cases in the county to 1,079.
The surge has strained the health care system, pushing some hospitals to near their intensive care capacity. Boone County's hospitals reported 149 COVID-19 patients as of Friday with 44 of them in intensive care. Monday's number has not been posted.
The county's hospitals reported a "yellow" status on the county's green-yellow-red scale.
Boone County reports triple-digit case increases over weekend
Boone County recorded two days of triple-digit coronavirus case gains over the weekend.
The 125 new coronavirus cases Saturday and 144 on Sunday helped push the number of active cases north of 1,000 after a brief dip below that level, according to the Columbia/Boone County health department's online dashboard.
The recent jump in new cases, including a record 226 on Thursday, pushed the five-day average of new daily cases from 98 on Wednesday to 158 on Sunday. The county health department also reported a record positivity rate of 36.2% last week.
Thirty Boone County residents have died because of complications of COVID-19. Last week, the county reported four deaths in four days.
The health department reported 149 COVID-19 patients in Boone County hospitals on Friday. That number had not been updated Monday morning.
Mexico School District returns to in-person learning
The Mexico School District returned to in-person learning Monday morning after virtual learning started on Nov. 16.
A letter sent out to parents said students will remain in-seat through Dec. 18. District leaders initially planned on returning to in-person learning last week.
Students are required to wear masks in school when in district buildings. The letter said some students may be exempt from the mandate.
The district adopted the state's new quarantine guidance. It states students will not have to quarantine if they are exposed to COVID-19 so long as the positive student and the one who was exposed were properly wearing masks.
As of Friday, the Audrain County Health Department had reported 1,059 coronavirus positive cases since the pandemic started. The health department said 140 of the cases were active and that 903 had recovered.
Missouri reports fewer COVID-19 cases after large increases over the weekend
Missouri health officials reported more than 2,600 new statewide COVID-19 cases Monday morning, fewer than the totals reported over the weekend.
The state health department's coronavirus dashboard said 2,658 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours bringing Missouri up to 324,956 since the pandemic started.
Monday's case increase was more than 1,000 fewer than Sunday's 3,876 new cases and almost half of the cases added on Saturday -- 5,001.
The dashboard said Missouri has reported 3,147 new cases on average each day over the week ending on Saturday.
Coronavirus-related deaths increased two over the last day, according to the health department data.
A message from the health department said Pettis County had a reduced case count and positivity rate on Saturday from a reporting error. The health department said it was working with a health care provider in the county to retrieve the missing data.
State health officials say Missouri's seven-day COVID-19 positivity rate went down 0.3% on Monday to 19.8%. According to the dashboard, the rate is near levels the state reported around Thanksgiving.
