WEDNESDAY UPDATES: Capital Region Medical Center opens coroanvirus triage testing
Capital Region Medical Center has established a COVID-19 testing process for patients who do not have an established primary care provider.
The testing site is being established to help offload the influx of patients presenting in emergency rooms and urgent cares seeking testing. CRMC is asking the community to avoid going to the emergency room to seek a COVID-19 test unless you are experiencing a health emergency.
Patients without a primary care provider seeking testing can call the triage line at 833-763-0444 is open Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Testing will be provided by appointment only at the outpatient entrance of the hospital, 1125 Madison Street.
Missouri Attorney General files for a temporary restraining order in a lawsuit against the St. Louis mask mandates
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed a temporary restraining order Wednesday and a preliminary injunction in his lawsuit against the St. Louis mask mandate.
“On Monday, I filed suit to stop the unconstitutional, unreasonable mask mandates in St. Louis. Last night, the St. Louis County Council terminated that health order and mask mandate. Despite this, St. Louis County Executive Sam Page believes he can still enforce the mask mandate – he cannot,” said Attorney General Schmitt. “County Executive Page is wrong, and today we asked a court for an order to remind him of that fact.”
Gov. Mike Parson also expressed his concerns about the CDC guidance regarding mask-wearing for fully vaccinated individuals.
Parson tweeted out:
It’s concerning because the nation’s top public health agency appears to be cowering to the political pressures of those who only want to force mandates and shutdowns, which only further prolong the recovery. This decision only promotes fear & further division among our citizens.
Gov. Mike Parson Twitter
The TRO can be found here.
The lawsuit from Monday can be found here.
Active cases increase 51 after drop Tuesday in Boone County
The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services is reporting 115 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday.
There are currently 671 active cases in the county, an increase of 51 from Tuesday. The county now has a reported total number of COVID-19 cases of 20,788.
The county reported 19,999 cases removed from isolation, an increase of 64 from Tuesday.
Boone County ranks seventh in the state with the most coronavirus cases per capita in the past week. Cases are down 17.4% on the week. The county has a 13.5% positive test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
The positivity rate is up for the previous week of July 16 through Thursday to 40.
The health department's hospital status remains in yellow, with 90 COVID-19 patients in Boone County hospitals and 30 of them being Boone County residents. Of those, 33 are in intensive care and 15 are on ventilators.
The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard is reporting that 95,547 residents have received their first dose in Boone County and 84,358 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 52.9%. The second closest county in the state is St. Louis County with 51.6%.
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 45.2% of residents have completed the doses for vaccination.
Cole County has the second-highest first vaccination rate in Mid-Missouri with 44.3%. Montgomery County is third with 39.3%.
St. Louis County official insists mask order remains
St. Louis County's top elected official insists that a mask mandate remains in place, even though the county commission voted to overturn it, The Associated Press reported.
St. Louis County Executive Sam Page said Wednesday that the mask order that took effect countywide on Monday is valid, despite the County Council voting 5-2 on Tuesday to end it. Across the state, meanwhile, Kansas City's mayor said he would issue a similar mask order that will take effect Monday and last through at least Aug. 28.
The St. Louis County mandate and one issued for the city of St. Louis led Missouri's Republican attorney general to sue in an effort to stop them.
More than 2,100 new COVID-19 cases recorded across state
The state health dashboard recorded 2,161 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 Wednesday morning, pushing the pandemic total to 561,939.
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services also added 787 probable cases of the virus to the dashboard. In total, 107,665 probable cases of the coronavirus have been discovered through antigen testing.
As cases continue to rise, so do Missouri's hospitalizations and deaths.
The latest confirmed data from Sunday shows 1,727 Missourians were hospitalized with the virus, 513 of whom were in intensive care.
Sixteen additional deaths were recorded across the state Wednesday morning. In total, COVID-19 has killed 9,638 people in Missouri.
The seven-day COVID-19 positivity rate decreased slightly, now sitting at 14.6% across the Show-Me State.
All but three Missouri counties in 'substantial' or 'high' transmission levels of COVID-19
The CDC's weekly State Profile Report shows all but three Missouri counties are in "high" or "substantial" levels of COVID-19 transmission.
The new report was released the same day the agency recommended everyone wear masks indoors in areas classified as those transmission levels.
Included at the highest level of transmission, shown as red in the map below, are all counties in Mid-Missouri.
Scotland County is the only Missouri county that remains at the "low" level of COVID-19 transmission, while just Bollinger and Pemiscot counties are the only ones classified as "moderate" transmission.
The high transmission of COVID-19 across the Show-Me State is being blamed, in part, on the delta variant.
Updated CDC data shows the delta variant accounts for 90.3% of new cases in Missouri. This is up from slightly under 90% last week.
