WEDNESDAY UPDATES: Two mid-Missouri counties report COVID-19 related deaths
Audrain County and Morgan County each reported COVID-19 related deaths during the daily updates.
Audrain County Health Department is reporting two coronavirus related deaths. The two deaths are the ninth COVID-19 deaths in Audrain county this year. Today's two deaths are the 44th and 45th deaths overall in the county since March.
The county has reported 1,595 total cases with 102 reported to be active.
The county has 1,448 recovered residents.
In Morgan County, the health center is reporting one COVID-19 related death. That is the fifth COVID-19 related death this week and 31st since the pandemic started.
There have been 1,596 total cases since March and currently, there are 38 active cases in the county.
The county has reported 1,527 recoveries.
Cooper County reports possible COVID-19 exposure at Boonville Pizza Hut
Cooper County Public Health Center is reporting that anyone receiving walk-in or delivery services from the Boonville Pizza Hut on January 9th and 11th may have been exposed to the coronavirus.
Patrons are encouraged to call into the health center at 660-882-2626 or log into the official website. Officials say your information will remain confidential.
The health center asks residents to submit name, email, and under comments; your home address, phone number and add your information of which event you attended. If you do not have access to the internet, please call 660-882-2626.
If you are experiencing even one symptom of the following you should seek medical care:
- if you are not feeling well,
- have sore throat,
- cough,
- headache,
- sinus pressure,
- nausea,
- vomiting,
- shortness of breath,
- difficulty breathing,
- loss of smell taste,
- fever,
- chills,
- fatigue,
- diarrhea, and
- backache.
Contact your physician for an order to seek out PCR nasal testing in Columbia at either MU, Boone Hospital or Urgent Care clinics. The PCR nasal swab test is better suited in this situation.
Boone County reports 102 new COVID-19 cases, first triple-digit increase this week
Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services is reporting 102 new COVID-19 cases for Tuesday, an increase of 15 from Tuesday.
The dashboard is currently reporting 740 active cases, 28 more than Tuesday.
The county now has a reported total number of COVID-19 cases of 15,204.
The county has reported the total number of cases removed from isolation is 14,401, an increase of 74 from Tuesday.
Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services dashboard has reported the latest five-day average as 94.
The dashboard is reporting the positivity rate of 35.1% for Jan. 1 through last Thursday.
The health department is reporting the total number of hospitalizations in Boone County is 120.
The number of Boone County residents hospitalized is reported to be 29.
The dashboard is reporting 28 COVID-19 patients in the ICU and 14 patients on ventilators.
The hospital status is still currently in the 'yellow' zone.
Four more Moniteau County residents with COVID-19 die
Four more Moniteau County residents infected with the novel coronavirus have died.
The Moniteau County Health Center reported the deaths Wednesday. Each person who died was 70 or older. The health center said no other information would be released -- a standard practice for health departments in coronavirus deaths.
Moniteau County is now up to 25 deaths associated with COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. The county has logged about 1,800 cases since the pandemic began in March, according to the health center's online dashboard.
Moniteau County has 66 active cases and five county residents are hospitalized with COVID-19.
The county has one of the highest case rates in the state at 9,887 cases per 100,000 people, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. Moniteau County has a positivity rate of 20.1% over the last seven days, well above the rate health officials say represents the uncontrolled spread of the virus.
175,000 coronavirus vaccine doses given in Missouri
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said Wednesday morning that 175,200 coronavirus vaccine doses have been given out so far.
It's an increase of about 14,000 doses since Tuesday.
Parson said during his inauguration on Monday that the next phase of the state's coronavirus vaccine plan will start next week. The state health department director said last week it will start close to when the initial phase ends.
Currently, state health care workers, nursing home residents and staff are the only groups of people able to receive the vaccine.
The Trump administration reversed course on some aspects of its vaccine distribution plan earlier this week. The new guidelines won't hold back second doses of the vaccine -- it includes Americans who are 65 and older can be vaccinated in the first phase.
Missouri's state health department has not made any decision on including older residents in the current phase of vaccine distribution as of Wednesday.
Missouri reports 2,000 new COVID-19 cases, positivity rate falls
The state health department reported a little more than 2,000 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday.
State health department officials reported the pandemic total of coronavirus cases rose to 429,177 -- an increase of 2,060 since Tuesday's update.
The coronavirus dashboard reported 16 new virus-related deaths. It brings the total of statewide COVID-19 fatalities to 6,171.
Even with the increase of more than 2,000 new cases, the state's seven-day positivity rate fell by nearly half of a percent. On Wednesday, the health department reported the positivity rate at 17.2% -- down from 17.6% reported the day before.
The rate has fallen more than two percent over the last week -- it was reported at 19.4% on Jan. 4. According to CDC data, the positivity rate indicates widespread COVID-19.
Health officials included 2,545 Missourians were hospitalized because of COVID-19 and 602 others were in ICU beds because of coronavirus.
