MONDAY UPDATES: Missouri DHSS adds 137 coronavirus related deaths after analyzing death certificates
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services has added 137 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 137 deaths:
- one in January
- one in May
- 12 in July
- 123 in August
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.
Southern Boone County School District releases return to in-person instruction plan
Southern Boone County R-I School District has revised and published their safe return to in-person instruction and continuity of service plan after two meetings to hear from family and staff in the district.
The district will not require students and staff to wear facial covers or masks. People will be encouraged to wear masks. If and when there is a new health order put into place, the district will fully comply.
The district did put a bully and harassment statement into the plan. The district will not tolerate bullying or harassment due to wearing a mask.
One big change in the plan is the district will monitor COVID-related exposures and positive cases for the district and when it reaches 15% of a building’s population, as defined on the district’s dashboard, masks will be required. Also, the district will monitor Department of Health case rate data for the 65010 and 65039 zip code areas of the Southern Boone County R-I School District. The district will require masking when the 14-day positivity case rate data is greater than 5% for those under 18 years of age.
The district will also extend employee COVID-related paid leave. When an employee uses a COVID-related absence, they will be eligible for extended COVID leave after the employee has used two of their personal paid time off days. The district will cap COVID paid leave at 160 hours.
Boone County reports three coronavirus-related deaths; active cases drops below 500
The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services is reporting three new coronavirus-related deaths. That brings the total number of deaths to 140. The first individual died on Aug. 7 and was in the 70-74 age group. The second individual died on Aug. 13 and was in the 45-49 age group. The third individual died on Aug. 22 and was in the 40-44 age group.
The county is reporting 128 new COVID-19 cases total, 18 on Saturday, one on Sunday and on 109 Monday.
There are currently 489 active cases in the county, a decrease of 81 from Friday. The county now has a reported total number of 22,931 COVID-19 cases.
The county reported 22,302 cases removed from isolation, an increase of 206 from Friday.
Boone County ranks eighth in the state with the most coronavirus cases in total volume in the past week. Cases are down 2.7% on the week. The county has a 10.9% positive test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
The health department's hospital status remains yellow, with 125 COVID-19 patients in Boone County hospitals and 25 of them being Boone County residents. Of those, 35 are in intensive care and 16 are on ventilators.
The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard is reporting that 101,138 residents have received their first dose in Boone County and 89,746 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 56%. The second closest county in the state is St. Louis County with 55%.
Boone County is first in the state with a reported 49.7% of residents that have completed their coronavirus vaccine doses. St. Louis County is the second county in the state with 48.8% of residents have completed the doses for vaccination.
Cole County has the second-highest first vaccination rate in Mid-Missouri with 48.3%. Montgomery County is third with 43.8%.
Cole County reports 57 new coronavirus cases over the weekend
The Cole County Health Department reported 57 new coronavirus cases.
According to the dashboard update, there are 10,356 residential cases and a total of 283 cases for long-term care facility residents. That brings a total of 10,639 total cases in the county.
The county is currently reporting 135 coronavirus-related deaths since the pandemic started, which is the most in Mid-Missouri.
Cole County ranks 29th in the state for counties with the most coronavirus cases per capita in the past week. Cases are down 20.8% on the week. The county has a 12.3% positive test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard reports about 42.9% of the county's population have been fully vaccinated.
St. Louis, Jackson County extend mask mandates
ST. LOUIS (AP)
Two of Missouri’s largest jurisdictions have approved extensions of their mask mandates, as COVID-19 continues to cause a big spike in cases and hospitalizations.
St. Louis aldermen on Monday approved an extension of the city’s indoor mask mandate at the request of Mayor Tishaura Jones. The order that began July 26 is now extended through Sept. 29.
Meanwhile, the Jackson County Legislature voted to extend the public health order that would have expired Sept. 7. The order extends the county’s mask mandate to Oct. 7.
The Columbia City Council recently rejected a mask mandate.
ICU coronavirus cases remain at record level
The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care in Missouri's hospitals continued at record levels as the state began a new week Monday.
The seven-day average of COVID-19 patients in Missouri ICUs has stayed above 680 for two weeks, according to Missouri's state coronavirus dashboard. The numbers exceed the previous highs reported in late December, when about 660 patients were in ICUs on average.
Missouri is among several states seeing a sustained surge in coronavirus cases powered by the highly transmissible delta variant. New cases have been declining over the past couple of weeks, with the state reporting a nearly 15% drop over the last seven days. However, the 1,911 confirmed new cases reported Monday were above the state-reported average over the last seven days -- 1,555.
The new cases reported Monday bring the state's total to 629,107. The state reported 306 probable cases identified through antigen testing for a total of 127,164. No new deaths were reported Monday.
Several Mid-Missouri counties have been among the top in the state for new cases this summer. On Monday, the only local county remaining in the top 20 for most new cases per capita was Moniteau at No. 19.
Missouri continues to lag behind the nation in its coronavirus vaccination rate, with about 45% of the population fully vaccinated compared to the national average of 52.5%, according to the Mayo Clinic. Daily vaccinations administered in Missouri are on a downward trend after a brief increase earlier this month.
