MONDAY UPDATES: Boone County reports 131 new coronavirus cases over weekend
Boone County health officials reported 131 new cases of coronavirus between Saturday and Monday as the virus continues its summer surge.
The tally included 111 cases reported on Monday alone and brings the county's number of cases since the pandemic began to 19,514. The county added 49 active cases to bring that number to 398. The Columbia/Boone County Department of Health and Human Services also reported 84 people in Boone County hospitals with COVID-19 -- a jump of 20 from Friday's total. Of those, 16 are Boone County residents and 27 are in intensive care.
Hospitals reported their status as yellow, meaning some are delaying non-emergency transfers or non-emergency procedures.
Boone County like much of Missouri is has seen a sharp increase in new coronavirus cases over the past few weeks. The five-day daily case average was at 26.4 on Monday. The number was in the single digits as recently as mid-June.
The sudden increase in infections prompted Columbia Public Schools this week to require students 11 years old and younger to wear masks indoors. The district on Monday reported 25 students with coronavirus and another 273 in quarantine because of exposure.
Southwest Missouri hospital opens 6th virus ward
A Springfield, Missouri hospital has opened its sixth COVID-19 ward as the delta virus variant rages in the state's southwest region.
The Kansas City Star reports Mercy Hospital in Springfield announced the new ward Sunday, as the hospital was treating 133 virus patients. Chief Administrative Officer Erik Frederick says the hospital needed at most five virus wards last year.
Frederick has tweeted that many people in local rural areas are unvaccinated. He also says people from rural areas don't have nearby hospitals, so they come to Mercy Hospital in Springfield.
The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care statewide has more than doubled since early April, according to state figures.
Missouri is top state in country for new cases per capita
Missouri is the top state in the U.S. for new coronavirus cases for capita over the past week, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC reported 165.4 cases per 100,000 people in Missouri in the past week. Arkansas comes in second with 161.7 cases per 100,000 people. Missouri added more than 10,000 new cases in the past week, according to the CDC.
Missouri has made national headlines for the coronavirus outbreak happening in the southwest part of the state and the Lake of the Ozarks area. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services last week issued an advisory about high transmission levels and low vaccination rates in Camden, Miller and Morgan counties. Miller and Camden counties rank 13 and 14 for most new cases in the state per capita, respectively.
The state has averaged more than 800 confirmed new cases per day over the past week, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. Missouri added just 154 confirmed new coronavirus cases Monday for a total of 534,800 and 17 probable cases through antigen testing Monday for a total of 98,063.
The rate of positive tests continues to rise, sitting at 12.3% on Monday. That number has risen by 1.7 percentage points over the past week. Cases are up 14.4% over the past week.
Statewide hospitalizations continued their sharp increase last week, with a seven-day average of more than 330 patients in intensive care for COVID-19 as of Friday. The low was about 120 patients in early April.
The central region of the state has 28% of its intensive care beds open.
