THURSDAY UPDATES: Boone County reports second straight day of single-digit coronavirus cases
The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services is reporting seven new COVID-19 cases.
There are currently 60 active cases in the county.
The county now has a reported total number of COVID-19 cases of 18,521.
The county has reported the total number of cases removed from isolation is 18,345.
The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services dashboard has reported the latest five-day average as 3.8.
The health department is reporting the total number of hospitalizations in Boone County is 20.
The health department is reporting three Boone County residents are in the hospital due to the coronavirus.
The dashboard is showing eight COVID-19 patients in the ICU and two patients on a ventilator.
The State of Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard is reporting that 86,372 residents have received their first dose in Boone County and 73,661 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 47.9%. The second closest in the state is St. Louis County with 45.3%.
Boone County is first in the state with a reported 40.8% of residents that have completed their coronavirus vaccine doses. St. Charles County is second in the state with 37.3% of residents have completed the doses for vaccination.
Cole County has the second-highest first vaccination rate in Mid-Missouri with 38.2%. Montgomery County is third with 34%.
COVID-19 positivity rate back up to 4%
Missouri's seven-day COVID-19 positivity rate was up slightly Thursday morning. After staying at 3.9% for several days, the state health dashboard showed it increased to 4%.
The increase in positivity came with 366 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19. The total number of confirmed cases throughout the pandemic is 510,541.
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services also recorded 292 additional probable cases of the coronavirus discovered through antigen testing, bringing the total to 87,486.
Four additional deaths were added to the state dashboard Thursday. In total, 9,075 Missourians have died due to COVID-19.
The number of daily vaccinations continues to fall. The seven-day average of vaccinations given out per day decreased to 11,675. This is 42,512 fewer doses than when Missouri's vaccinations peaked on April 11. The seven-day average of daily vaccinations reached 54,187 that day.
As of Thursday morning, 41.4% of the state population has initiated vaccination against COVID-19 and 34.3% are fully vaccinated.
Missouri, U.S. hit pandemic lows for new unemployment claims
The number of new state and national unemployment claims both hit pandemic lows last week.
According to data from Missouri's Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, 5,852 residents filed for unemployment benefits in the week ending on May 22.
Shortly after the pandemic began last year, the number of new claims was more than 17 times that of last week's. During the week ending on April 11, 2020, 101,722 Missourians applied for unemployment benefits.
Nationally, the number of new jobless claims also dropped to a new pandemic low.
The U.S. Department of Labor said 406,000 Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week. The number was down by about 38,000 from the prior week. Since January, the number of weekly applications has dropped by more than half.
The low numbers in both Missouri and across the United States show a strengthening job market as the economy continues to reopen.
