THURSDAY UPDATES: Boone County reports 85th coronavirus related death, 27th this year
The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services is reporting a 60-64 year old person has died from the coronavirus. This is the 85th person that has died from the coronavirus and 27th this year.
The county is reporting 45 new COVID-19 cases. Of those 45 cases, 25 are old cases that had not yet been reported originally to the health department. However, 20 of the cases would be considered new/current.
There are currently 84 active cases in the county, an increase of 14 from Wednesday.
The county now has a reported total number of COVID-19 cases of 17,857.
The county has reported the total number of cases removed from isolation is 17,688.
The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services dashboard has reported the latest five-day average as 17.
The dashboard is reporting the positivity rate of 11.8% for March 12 through last Thursday.
The county continues to trend down as there have been 56 straight days of single or double-digit case increases.
The health department is reporting the total number of hospitalizations in Boone County is 23.
The number of Boone County residents hospitalized is reported to be four.
The dashboard is reporting five COVID-19 patients in the ICU and one patient on a ventilator.
The hospital status remains 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 State of Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard is reporting that 51,450 residents have received their first dose in Boone County.
The county has the largest percentage of people in Mid-Missouri that have received at least one dose of the vaccine with 28.5%.
Cole County has the second highest first vaccination rate in Mid-Missouri with 24.2%. Saline County is third with 24.1%.
Health department reports nearly 900 probable COVID-19 cases
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services reported nearly 900 new probable COVID-19 cases on the coronavirus dashboard Thursday morning.
Since the department started keeping track of probable cases through antigen testing, health officials have reported 86,122 cases -- an increase of 892 from the day before.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said antigen tests are cheaper than PCR tests and tend to give results much quicker. Health officials have said the antigen tests can also give false results at a higher rate.
The dashboard said if someone tests positive on both an antigen and PCR test, then they will have a confirmed case of COVID-19. Only confirmed COVID-19 cases affect the state's positivity rate, which was reported at 4% on Thursday.
More than 1 million antigen tests have been administered in the state with about 8% resulting in a positive result, the health department said.
State health officials reported 448 confirmed COVID-19 cases through PCR testing. The pandemic total of cases was reported at 487,365.
Health officials have reported 8,435 virus-related deaths over the course of the pandemic -- an increase of one from Wednesday.
Nearly 2.2 million coronavirus vaccine doses have been administered in the state since vaccines became available. The dashboard said 23.3% of the state's population has initiated vaccination as of Thursday.
