Moniteau County coronavirus positivity rate soars as health officials work to increase vaccinations
CALIFORNIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Moniteau County Health center is pushing for residents to get vaccinated against the coronavirus as the rate of positive tests for the virus hits its highest level since January.
The health center in a Facebook post Monday said the positivity rate had reached 17.5% and urged residents to get vaccinated. By Tuesday, the state's COVID-19 dashboard had the rate at 20%.
According to the CDC COVID Data Tracker, 4,331 Moniteay County residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine, equating to just 26.8% of the total population, and 3,918 people are fully vaccinated -- 24.3% of the total population.
Moniteau County is one of several in Mid-Missouri where the coronavirus is spreading locally at a high rate, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Other counties with high transmission levels include Callaway, Miller, Morgan, Randolph, Maries and Chariton.
Randolph County, as of Tuesday, had 14 active cases and the positivity rate is 17.1 percent. The immunization rate are lower than the state average with 22.4 percent of the population with first and second vaccine doses.
Miller County is among the top 10 Missouri counties for the rate of new coronavirus infections. Miller reported 156 new cases per 100,000 in the last week, according to the health department's COVID-19 dashboard. That puts Miller County eighth on the list for most infections among Missouri counties.
Hospitals in Boone County are filling up with patients with Coronavirus from rural counties in Missouri
As the COVID-19 cases surge in rural areas of Mid-Missouri, local hospitals in Boone County are filling up with patients from other Counties.
Dr. Robin Blount, Chief Medical Officer at Boone Health said she's seen an increase in cases at the hospital over the past few weeks. She said most of the cases at the hospital were coming from the counties North and Southwest of Boone County where the vaccination rates are low.
"In the last few weeks we started seeing three or four patients a day and then it went up to five or six. Last week we were seeing in the 10 range, and today we had seventeen," Dr. Blount said.
Mary Beck, Chief Medical Nursing Officer with MU Healthcare said some hospitals in Missouri are at capacity. She said said eight patients were sent to MU Health this weekend from Southwest Missouri because the hospitals there were full.
Beck said most of the patients MU Healthcare is seeing are not vaccinated and are coming from rural counties. She said she was disappointed.
"Most of the patients we have now have not been vaccinated, and as someone thats been working through the pandemic for the last year and a half its very disappointing," Beck said.
Missouri now leads the nation with the highest rate of new COVID-19 infections as vaccinations lag, according to CDC data. Cases statewide have been rising in recent weeks and are up 15.5% over the previous week, the state health department reported Tuesday. The positivity rate was 6.8%.
The rate of daily vaccinations fell to its lowest level yet Monday, with a seven-day average of 7,780 shots per day. That number peaked at more than 55,000 in April.
Check back for updates to this developing story.
