THURSDAY UPDATES: Miller County Health Center reports three COVID-19 related deaths

Miller County Health Center is reporting three COVID-19 related deaths.

The county now has recorded 54 deaths since the county first reported a coronavirus related death in August. The county has reported four coronavirus deaths this month and six this year.

The health center reported 22 new total cases since their last update on Feb. 2.

There are currently 20 active cases in the county.

The county has reported 1,550 vaccine doses administered accounting for 6.1% of the population.

Boone County reports lowest number of active cases since Aug. 13

Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services is reporting 45 new COVID-19 cases.

The dashboard is currently reporting 268 active cases, a five case increase from Wednesday.

The county continues to trend down as there has now been 15 straight days of only double-digit case increases. This is the longest number of days of only double-digit increases since Oct. 13.

The county now has a reported total number of COVID-19 cases of 17,081.

The county has reported the total number of cases removed from isolation is 16,740, a 40 case increase from Wednesday.

Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services dashboard has reported the latest five-day average as 27. This is the lowest the five-day average has been since Aug. 13.

The dashboard is reporting the positivity rate of 24% positivity rate for Jan. 29 through last Thursday.

The health department is reporting the total number of hospitalizations in Boone County is 42.

The number of Boone County residents hospitalized is reported to be 12.

The dashboard is reporting 11 COVID-19 patients in the ICU and 10 patients on ventilators.

The hospital status is currently in 'Green' status. 'Green' status is when hospitals are operating within licensed bed capacity; accepting patient transfers from referring hospitals within standard care operating procedures.

The dashboard also reports that 22,250 have received their first dose.

The county has the fourth-largest percentage of people that have received at least one dose of the vaccine with 12.3%.

Saline County has the largest with 14.8% of the population have received the first dose of the vaccine. Cole County is second with 13.3% and Montgomery County is third with 12.7%.

Audrain County Health Department hosting 2nd round of vaccinations at a mass vaccination clinic on Feb. 19

Audrain County residents will be able to get their second dose of the coronavirus vaccine on Feb. 19 at the Mexico Memorial Airport.

Residents who received their first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at the first drive-thru mass vaccination clinic on Jan. 29th are eligible for the 2nd round on Feb. 19.

Only the residents who got their first shot at the Jan. 29 event will be eligible to get their second dose at the Feb. 19 event.

“We’ve devised a system this time that we feel will provide the most efficient and lowest wait-time experience for those receiving the second dose of the vaccine,” ACHD Administrator and CEO Craig Brace said. “I want to thank the Audrain County Emergency Management Agency and particularly Assistant Emergency Management Director Leonardo “Judah” Paniagua for crunching the numbers from the first mass vaccination clinic and figuring out the flow to our system for this return clinic.”

The clinic will adhere to a schedule beginning at 9 a.m. and go through 4 p.m. Individuals will be asked to show their CDC Vaccination Cards as they enter the clinic. Those who have misplaced their cards will be issued new cards before being vaccinated.

“We are anticipating 2,332 doses to be administered through this drive-thru clinic,” Brace explained. “We have set up a schedule of arrivals for those that need the second dose injection according to their last name at certain times of the day. We ask that if your name is scheduled at 2 p.m. that you arrive at 2 p.m. Please do not arrive early or late. This will allow for a consistent flow of traffic.”

The arrival time schedule is as follows:

• 9 a.m. arrival – Those with last names beginning with A through B
• 10 a.m. arrival – Those with last names beginning with C through E
• 11 a.m. arrival – Those with last names beginning with F through H
• 12 p.m. arrival – Those with last names beginning with I through L
• 1 p.m. arrival – Those with last names beginning with M through Q
• 2 p.m. arrival – Those with last names beginning with R through S
• 3 p.m. arrival – Those with last names beginning with T through Z

“With this system, we’re hoping this will provide an orderly and efficient way to get the vaccines in the arms and to take up the least amount of time for those that are to receive them,” said Brace. Single vehicles transporting multiple passengers with different last names should choose one of the passengers’ names to determine the arrival time. All in the vehicle will be vaccinated at the same time.

Cold leads to changes at MU Health coronavirus testing site

University of Missouri Health Care is adjusting the hours of its drive-thru coronavirus testing site this week and next because of extreme cold and lower demand.

The site at Mizzou North, 115 Business Loop 70, will be open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday and then closed Saturday through Monday. The site will open again on normal hours Tuesday: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays and 8 to 11 a.m. on Saturdays.

Testing numbers have fallen dramatically, from more than 3,000 per week in August to just 1,329 in the first week of February, MU Health said in an email.

Lows could go below zero this weekend and early Monday, with highs in the single digits.

Missouri sees slight increase in unemployment claims

The Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations said unemployment claims increased slightly in the latest data available.

The department's website said jobless claims for the week ending Saturday was up to 12,186 -- an increase of 303 from the week before.

Department officials say claims have increased higher since the last two weeks of January. A little more than 80,000 claims have been submitted to the department since the beginning of the year.

The US Labor Department said another 793,000 Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week.

State health department reports 1,000 new COVID-19 cases

Missouri state health department reported a little more than 1,000 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday.

The Department of Health and Senior Services coronavirus dashboard said 469,223 Missourians have tested positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic started. It's an increase of 1,034 from the day before.

It's the first four-digit case increase this week. The average daily increase for the week ending on Monday was 817, according to the dashboard.

Health officials also reported 270 new virus-related on the dashboard. The increase brings the pandemic total up to 7,431.

The health department added 287 additional deaths in its weekly death certificate check. The department said at least 30 of the deaths from the check will be added to Friday's dashboard update.

Missouri's seven-day COVID-19 positivity rate was reported at 7.6% on Thursday.

Officials have administered at least 764,378 doses of coronavirus vaccine in the state. The dashboard said 574,408 have received the first dose of a vaccine.