MONDAY UPDATES: Missouri DHSS adds 46 coronavirus related deaths after analyzing death certificates
Missouri DHSS has added 46 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 46 deaths:
- one in May
- six in June
- 39 in July
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.
Missouri AG sues over St. Louis area mask mandate
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP)
The attorney general in Missouri has sued in an effort to halt a mask mandate that took effect Monday in the St. Louis area amid a rise in COVID-19 cases that are burdening a growing number of hospitals around the state.
The mandate, one of the first to be reinstated in the country, requires everyone age 5 or older to wear masks in indoor public places and on public transportation in St. Louis city and St. Louis County even if they are vaccinated.
But the lawsuit said the mandate “undermines the important push for vaccinations” and that mandating children to wear masks in school is arbitrary and capricious because they are less likely to become seriously ill.
Boone County active coronavirus cases drops below 700
The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services is reporting 172 new COVID-19 cases from over the weekend; there were 27 cases Saturday, two on Sunday and 143 reported Monday.
There are currently 648 active cases in the county, a decrease of 70 from Friday. The county now has a reported total number of COVID-19 cases of 20,618.
The county reported 19,852 cases removed from isolation, an increase of 237 from Friday.
Boone County ranks 39h in the state with the most coronavirus cases per capita in the past week. Cases are down 5.9% on the week. The county has a 14.7% positive test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
The positivity rate went down for the previous week of July 16 through Thursday to 39.5.
The health department's hospital status remains in yellow, with 98 COVID-19 patients in Boone County hospitals and 21 of them being Boone County residents. Of those, 31 are in intensive care and 14 are on ventilators.
The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard is reporting that 95,261 residents have received their first dose in Boone County and 84,224 Boone County residents have completed their vaccine doses. Boone County has the largest percentage of county residents in Mid-Missouri that have received at least one dose of the vaccine with 52.8%. The second closest county in the state is St. Louis County with 51.3%.
Boone County is first in the state with a reported 46.7% of residents that have completed their coronavirus vaccine doses. St. Louis County is second in the state with 45% of residents have completed the doses for vaccination.
Cole County has the second-highest first vaccination rate in Mid-Missouri with 44%. Montgomery County is third with 39.1%.
Cole County reports 44 new COVID-19 cases; Callaway County reports 137 new, 277 total cases
The Cole County Health Department reported 44 new coronavirus cases.
According to the dashboard update, there have been 8,999 resident cases and 271 long-term care facility resident cases. That brings a total of 9,270 total cases in the county.
The county has reported 126 coronavirus-related deaths since the pandemic started.
The Cole County Health Department has reported 779 new coronavirus cases this month, compared to fewer than 300 in June.
Cole County ranks seventh in the state for counties with the most coronavirus cases per capita in the past week. Cases are up 3.7% on the week. The county has a 19.7% positive test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
About 38.7% of the county's population has been fully vaccinated.
The Callaway County Health Department reported 130 new coronavirus cases since their last update; bringing the number of active cases up to 277.
According to the dashboard update, there have been 4,494 cases.
The county has reported 46 coronavirus-related deaths since the pandemic started.
Callaway County ranks 37th in the state for counties with the most coronavirus cases per capita in the past week. Cases are down 4.6%. The county has a 17.3% positive test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
About 32.9% of the county's population has been fully vaccinated.
Parson issues statement against coronavirus mask mandates
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson issued a statement Monday against mask mandates, the same day St. Louis city and county reimposed their mask requirements in some places.
"These policies that don’t consider vaccination status reduce the incentive of getting the vaccine and undermine its integrity," Pason said in a statement posted on his social media accounts. "The vaccine is how we rid ourselves of COVID-19, not mask mandates that ignore common sense."
Parson said such mandates are "wrong" and go against guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The decision in St. Louis comes as both of Missouri’s urban areas see a big uptick in coronavirus hospitalizations that began in rural areas of the state, especially in southwestern Missouri. Mid-Missouri has also seen a major uptick in cases.
Missouri is averaging more than 1,500 new coronavirus cases a day, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. The state ranks fourth for most coronavirus cases per capita over the past week, the CDC reported Monday.
Only about 41% of Missouri residents are fully vaccinated. The rate of new vaccinations has dropped well below its peaks in the spring but has been slowly increasing since early July.
Dozens of health care organizations also issued a statement Monday calling for mandatory coronavirus vaccines for health care workers.
Fewer than 900 new COVID-19 cases reported in Missouri
On Monday, 892 new cases were added to Missouri's COVID-19 dashboard, bringing the total number of cases to 558,001. This comes after the state reported more than 2,000 new cases a day several times last week.
Recent data also shows 223 new probable antigen cases were also added to the dashboard Monday, bringing that total to 106,241 since the start of the pandemic.
This comes as the positivity rate remained the same Monday, still sitting at 14.7%.
Only was death was added overnight to the dashboard. The total number of deaths due to COVID-19 is now 9,558.
