MONDAY UPDATES: Boone County 21 new coronavirus cases for the past three days
The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services is reporting 21 new COVID-19 cases in total for Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
There are currently 54 active cases in the county.
The county now has a reported total number of COVID-19 cases of 18,429.
The county has reported the total number of cases removed from isolation is 18,284.
The health department is reporting one Boone County resident is in the hospital due to the coronavirus.
The State of Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard is reporting that 83,239 residents have received their first dose in Boone County and 71,406 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 46.1%. The second closest in the state is St. Louis County with 42.9%.
Boone County is first in the state with a reported 39.6% of residents that have completed their coronavirus vaccine doses. Atchison County is second in the state with 35.7% of residents have completed the doses for vaccination.
Cole County has the second-highest first vaccination rate in Mid-Missouri with 37%. Montgomery County is third with 33.2%.
COVID-19 positivity hits lowest rate since late March
Missouri's seven-day COVID-19 positivity rate continued its steady decline Monday. According to the state health dashboard, Monday's 3.8% positivity rate was the lowest the state recorded since March 25.
Missouri's Department of Health and Senior Services reported an additional 145 confirmed coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of confirmed infections throughout the pandemic to 507,680.
State health officials also recorded 141 new probable cases of the virus. In total, 85,778 probable COVID-19 cases have been discovered through antigen testing throughout the pandemic.
No additional deaths were reported Monday due to the virus. The total number of virus-related deaths remained at 8,859.
The state vaccine dashboard stated that 39.7% of Missouri residents have initiated the vaccination process, which is equal to more than 2.4 million Missourians. Slightly more than 2 million residents have completed the process, with 32.9% of the population fully vaccinated.
Target joins list of retailers relaxing mask requirements
Target announced Monday morning it is joining the growing list of retailers rolling back mask requirements.
The company said in a statement that it will no longer require fully vaccinated customers or employees to wear face coverings in stores. However, masks will still be required in stores if local COVID-19 mandates require them.
"Face coverings will continue to be strongly recommended for guests and team members who are not fully vaccinated and we’ll continue our increased safety and cleaning measures, including social distancing, throughout our stores," said a spokesperson for Target in a statement.
Target cited the updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as reason for the change.
There are three Target stores in mid-Missouri, located in Columbia, Jefferson City and Osage Beach.
