FRIDAY UPDATES: Boone County reports highest number of new coronavirus cases since March 8
The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services is reporting 35 new COVID-19 cases. This is the highest number of new cases since March 8, when 62 cases were reported.
There are currently 135 active cases in the county.
The county now has a reported total number of COVID-19 cases of 18,820.
The county has reported the total number of cases removed from isolation is 18,568.
The health department's hospital status remains in yellow.
The health department is reporting four Boone County residents are in the hospital due to the coronavirus.
There are a total of 42 people hospitalized at a Boone County hospital due to the coronavirus.
The dashboard is showing 17 COVID-19 patients in the ICU and seven patients on a ventilator.
The State of Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard is reporting that 90,235 residents have received their first dose in Boone County and 80,336 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 50%. The second closest in the state is St. Louis County with 48.5%.
Boone County is first in the state with a reported 44.5% of residents that have completed their coronavirus vaccine doses. St. Louis County is second in the state with 42.4% of residents have completed the doses for vaccination.
Cole County has the second-highest first vaccination rate in Mid-Missouri with 40.3%. Montgomery County is third with 36.3%.
Missouri ends work week with cases up more than 23 percent
Missouri's confirmed coronavirus cases are up 23.5% to end the work week as the state continues to lead the nation in new infections.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Friday that Missouri is No. 1 in the nation for total new infections at 5,314 and cases per capita at 86.6 in the last week.
The state added to its total Friday with 648 confirmed new cases, bringing the number since the pandemic started to 521,254. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services reported another 242 probable cases through antigen testing for a total of 92,506 since the pandemic started. The state reported three new deaths from COVID-19 for a total of 9,254.
The state reported a positivity rate -- the percentage of tests that get a positive result over the last seven days -- of 7.4% on Friday. The rate has increased 1.2% over the last seven days.
Health officials say stalling vaccination rates are helping to fuel the spread of the coronavirus, including the Delta variant first seen in India. The state's daily vaccination average dropped to 7,389 on Wednesday -- the last day the state reported the average. The average peaked at nearly 56,000 shots per day on April 11.
