MONDAY UPDATES: Missouri DHSS adds 16 coronavirus related deaths after analyzing death certificates

Missouri DHSS has added 16 COVID-19 related deaths after the state’s disease surveillance system analyzed several death certificates.

Officials say the deaths will be captured and reported publicly through the dashboard Tuesday morning.

Of the 16 deaths:

• one in August
• one in April
• two in May
• 12 in June

Officials at DHSS report the weekly activity typically causes a sharp increase in the deaths added to Missouri’s total the following day. DHSS is now regularly analyzing death certificates on Mondays.

Officials say the state does not track probable or pending deaths.

Boone County reports 29 coronavirus cases over the past three days; active cases rise to 80

The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services is reporting 29 new COVID-19 cases from Saturday to Monday.

There are currently 80 active cases in the county.

The county now has a reported total number of COVID-19 cases of 18,712.

The county has reported the total number of cases removed from isolation is 18,515.

The health department's hospital status remains in yellow.

The health department is reporting three Boone County residents are in the hospital due to the coronavirus.

There are a total of 48 people hospitalized at a Boone County hospital due to the coronavirus.

The dashboard is showing 16 COVID-19 patients in the ICU and six patients on a ventilator.

The State of Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard is reporting that 89,721 residents have received their first dose in Boone County and 79,422 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 49.7%. The second closest in the state is St. Louis County with 48.2%.

Boone County is first in the state with a reported 44% of residents that have completed their coronavirus vaccine doses. St. Louis County is second in the state with 41.9% of residents have completed the doses for vaccination.

Cole County has the second-highest first vaccination rate in Mid-Missouri with 39.9%. Montgomery County is third with 36%.

Missouri leads nation in highest rate of new COVID cases

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP)

Missouri now leads the nation with the highest rate of new COVID-19 infections as vaccinations lag.

One person in every 1,349 people in the state was diagnosed with COVID-19 from June 13 to Sunday. Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services spokeswoman Lisa Cox said the north-central and southwest part of the state are driving the surge.

While 53.3% of the population of Americans have initiated vaccination, most southern and northern Missouri counties are well short of 40%. And a handful of southern Missouri counties have fewer than 20% of residents vaccinated.

Miller among most coronavirus-infected counties per capita

Miller County is among the top 10 Missouri counties for the rate of new coronavirus infections per capita, according to numbers published Monday by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

Miller county reported 156 cases per 100,000 people in the last week, good for No. 7 in the state for most cases per capita, according to the health department's COVID-19 dashboard. The next Mid-Missouri county on the list is Camden at No. 16 with 125 cases per capita.

Cases statewide have been rising in recent weeks and are up nearly 15% over the previous week, the department reported Monday. The positivity rate was up to 6.8% Monday.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases rose by 301 on Monday to hit 519,267. Missouri also recorded 122 new probable cases through antigen testing for a total of 91,657. Deaths are down 33% week over week.

The state reports 43.6% of Missourians have received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine, with 54% of the 18-and-older population starting vaccination. The rate of daily vaccinations fell to its lowest level yet Sunday, with a seven-day average of 8,360 shots per day. That number peaked at more than 55,000 in April.

Boone County is nearing 50% of its residents initiating vaccination.