TUESDAY UPDATES: Boone County moves to second in the state for completion percentage of the coronavirus vaccine
The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services is reporting five new COVID-19 cases.
There are currently 98 active cases in the county.
The county now has a reported total number of COVID-19 cases of 18,263.
The county has reported the total number of cases removed from isolation is 18,079, a 13 case increase from Monday.
The county continues to trend down as there have been 89 straight days of single or double-digit case increases.
The health department is reporting one Boone County resident is in the hospital due to the coronavirus.
The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard reports that 78,315 residents have received their first dose in Boone County and 55,575 Boone County residents have completed their vaccine doses.
Boone County has the largest percentage of people in Mid-Missouri that have received at least one dose of the vaccine with 43.4%. The second closest in the state is St. Louis County with 39.3%.
Boone County has a reported 30.8% of residents that have completed their coronavirus vaccine doses, good for second in the state. Boone County is behind Atchison County with 32.9% having completed the the doses for vaccination.
Cole County has the second-highest first vaccination rate in Mid-Missouri with 33.7%. Saline County is third with 31.5%.
Missouri remains middle of the pack for new coronavirus cases
Missouri remained squarely in the middle among states Tuesday for new cases over the last seven days as it passed 500,000 positive coronavirus tests.
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services reported 322 new confirmed cases for a total of 500,071 since the pandemic began. The state reported another 202 antigen cases, which are considered probable but not confirmed. The state has recorded 82,412 probable antigen-tested cases since the start of the pandemic.
The number of cases over the last week puts Missouri at No. 25 among states, according to the state coronavirus dashboard.
Missouri also reported 34 new coronavirus deaths on Tuesday, bringing the total to 8,732 since the pandemic started in March 2020. The deaths were reported as part of a weekly state review of death certificates. Two deaths apiece were logged in November, January and February, with March and April each picking up 14 more coronavirus deaths.
New cases have dropped 15% in the last week compared to the week before, according to the state coronavirus dashboard. However, several Mid-Missouri counties are in the top 20 for the highest new case rate over the past week, including Boone at No. 17, Maries at No. 19 and Osage at No. 15.
Vaccinations continue to increase in Missouri, with 36.9% of residents receiving at least one dose of vaccine as of Tuesday. However, the rate at which shots are being given continues to plummet after peaking earlier this month. Boone County ranks first in the state for the percentage of the population initiating vaccination at 43.4%.
