FRIDAY UPDATES: Missouri Department of Conservation Headquarters and Runge Nature Center in Jefferson City to close to the public Monday
The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) will close its headquarters and the Runge Conservation Nature Center to the public beginning Monday amid rising COVID-19 concerns.
The closures come after the Department of Health and Senior Services classified Cole County under the “Extreme Risk” category due to the region’s COVID-19 positivity rate and case rate.
Currently, there are no timeline plans to reopen but staff will reassess at the beginning of 2021.
The headquarters office will be closed to general visitors but will still be staffed.
The Runge Nature Center building in Jefferson City and outdoor restrooms will also close to visitors Monday. The nature center’s trails, pavilion, and other outdoor areas will remain open and outdoor and virtual programs will continue as planned.
Three mid-Missouri counties report COVID-19 related deaths
Three mid-Missouri counties are reporting COVID-19 related deaths.
In Audrain County, the health department is reporting three COVID-19 related deaths. This is the ninth death reported this week in the county. The county has reported 28 coronavirus deaths since March.
The health department is reporting 179 active cases and 1,198 total cases.
The county currently has six residents hospitalized due to the coronavirus.
In Chariton County, the health center is reporting one COVID-19 related death. This brings the total number of deaths in the county due to coronavirus to 12. The county has reported four COVID-19 related deaths this week.
The county currently is reporting 102 active cases and 531 total cases.
The health center has reported 417 residents have recovered from the coronavirus.
Camden County Health Department provided their weekly update on Facebook and reported six COVID-19 related deaths since Dec. 3.
According to their update, there are now 58 COVID-19 related deaths. Camden County is second only to Cole County's 68 COVID-19 related deaths.
The health department is reporting 441 active cases, a drop of 84 cases from last week.
The county has reported 2,924 total cases since March.
The county has reported 2,425 recoveries.
Boone County reports third day in a row of triple-digit COVID-19 case increase
Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services is reporting 119 new active cases, an increase of 15 cases from Thursday.
The dashboard is currently reporting 953 active cases, a drop 51 cases.
The county now has a reported total number of COVID-19 cases of 11,716 since March.
The county has reported the total number of cases removed from isolation is 10,728, an increase of 172 recoveries.
Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services dashboard has reported the latest five-day average as 118, a decrease of five from Thrusday.
The dashboard is reporting the positivity rate currently sits at 28.7%, a drop of 8.4% from the week of Nov. 27 to Dec. 3.
The health department is reporting the total hospitalizations in Boone County at 152 cases, an increase of 12.
The number of Boone County residents hospitalized is reported to be 21.
The dashboard is reporting 40 COVID-19 patients in the ICU.
The department reports 22 patients on ventilators.
The hospital status is still currently in the 'yellow' zone.
Audrain County residents to start contact tracing
Audrain County residents will become the latest to start contact tracing, according to a release from the county health department.
The release sent out Friday morning said residents will become their own contact tracers on Wednesday. Individuals who test positive for COVID-19 are asked to immediately self-isolate and get in contact with their close contacts.
County health officials said the move was made because of a recent surge in COVID-19 cases. The process will cut down on the wait time from the health department, the release said.
The county joins others in Mid-Missouri that have already made the same move.
As of Thursday, Audrain county has reported 1,180 total COVID-19 cases since the pandemic started. It included there were 182 active cases and that 25 have died from the virus.
Positive cases have increased 188 since Dec. 1, according to department data. Active cases went up 45 and deaths have gone up by 11 since the beginning of the month.
State health officials report 3,900 new COVID-19 cases, 31 more virus-related deaths
The state health department reported more COVID-19 cases and virus-related deaths Friday morning.
An update posted to the health department's coronavirus dashboard said officials reported 3,900 new cases over the last 24 hours -- bringing the pandemic total to 338,604.
The increase is just higher than Thursday's 3,858 new cases.
The dashboard included 31 more people have died from the coronavirus in the last day.
Missouri was 19th in the US for new cases over the last seven days -- 20,770. The state was 11th in the nation for new deaths over the same time period -- 92.
Health officials say the state's seven-day COVID-19 positivity rate decreased 0.2% since Thursday going down to 18.7%. The rate has continued to fall this week -- Friday's rate is the lowest reported since Nov. 5.
The CDC reported any positivity rate over 10 percent indicates widespread COVID-19 transmission.
According to health department data, Randolph and Miller counties had the highest seven-day positivity rates in Mid-Missouri both at 28.5%. The dashboard said Worth County in the northwest part of the state had the highest positivity rate at 52.6%.
State hospital officials say 2,795 people were hospitalized because of COVID-19 on Tuesday - the most recent data available. It included 20% of the state's hospital bed capacity was still available.
Missouri ICU admissions were unchanged over the last day staying at 650. ICU admissions and hospitalizations have remained high putting a strain on bed space -- the dashboard said 16% of ICU beds were still available.
MU Health Care to give update on vaccine arrival and distribution plan
MU Health Care is set to give an update Friday afternoon on when it plans to receive and administer a COVID-19 vaccine.
The hospital system is going over preliminary information at 12:30 p.m., according to an email from MU Health Care spokesman Eric Maze.
The US Department of Health and Human Services said Friday morning it intends on granting emergency approval for Pfizer's COVID-19.
It's not immediately known how soon the vaccine can be distributed if it is approved Friday.
