TUESDAY UPDATES: Hospitalizations start to decline in some parts of Missouri
ST. LOUIS (AP)
Missouri has been among the states hit early and hard by the delta variant of COVID-19, but there are some signs of improvement.
The state’s COVID-19 dashboard on Tuesday showed 2,146 people hospitalized with the virus.
That’s still more than three times the number hospitalized at the start of June, but it’s down from 2,463 hospitalizations on Aug. 19.
Southwestern Missouri has seen a decline from 628 hospitalized patients on July 29 to 431.
One area of the state is still seeing a surge. Southeast Missouri had 10 people hospitalized with the virus on July 1.
That number was at 140 as of Tuesday.
Boone County reports 40 people are in ICU due to coronavirus
The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services is reporting 60 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday.
There are currently 485 active cases in the county, a decrease of four from Monday. The county now has a reported total number of 22,991 COVID-19 cases.
The county reported 22,366 cases removed from isolation, an increase of 64 from Monday.
Boone County ranks ninth in the state with the most coronavirus cases in total volume in the past week. Cases are down 3% on the week. The county has a 10.7% positive test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
The health department's hospital status remains yellow, with 127 COVID-19 patients in Boone County hospitals and 28 of them being Boone County residents. Of those, 40 are in intensive care and 15 are on ventilators.
The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard is reporting that 101,219 residents have received their first dose in Boone County and 89,864 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 56.1%. The second closest county in the state is St. Louis County with 55.1%.
Boone County is first in the state with a reported 49.8% of residents that have completed their coronavirus vaccine doses. St. Louis County is the second county in the state with 48.9% of residents have completed the doses for vaccination.
Cole County has the second-highest first vaccination rate in Mid-Missouri with 48.4%. Montgomery County is third with 43.9%.
Cole County reports 41 new coronavirus cases
The Cole County Health Department reported 41 new coronavirus cases.
According to the dashboard update, there are 10,397 residential cases and a total of 283 cases for long-term care facility residents. That brings a total of 10,680 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 31st in the state for counties with the most coronavirus cases per capita in the past week. Cases are down 20.3% on the week. The county has a 12.1% positive test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard reports about 48.4% of the county have initiated their first dose of the vaccine and 43% of the county's population have been fully vaccinated.
All of Mid-Missouri remains in 'red zone' for coronavirus cases
Every Mid-Missouri county experienced high coronavirus transmission levels over the last week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Only Worth, Schuyler and Scotland counties in northern Missouri were not in the CDC's "high" transmission category for COVID-19. Nearly 94% of counties nationwide are in the high transmission category as the highly transmissible delta variant continues its dominance. The variant is responsible for about 97% of cases in Missouri.
New cases are up nearly 3% nationwide over the past week, the CDC says.
New cases have been trending down in Missouri, with a drop of 14.5% over the last week, according to the state health department's coronavirus dashboard. Missouri reported 960 new confirmed cases Tuesday for a total of 630,067 since the pandemic began. The daily average of new cases is 1,555.
Missouri reported another 434 probable cases through antigen testing for a total of 127,598 since the pandemic started in March 2020.
Moniteau is the only Mid-Missouri county in the top 20 for most new cases per capita. The county is ranked 13th in the state.
The state added 157 coronavirus deaths to its total Tuesday, with 137 of those coming from a weekly review of death certificates. Of the deaths added after the review, 123 happened in August.
The number of coronavirus patients in intensive care in Missouri hospitals remained at record levels Tuesday, with daily averages continuing to exceed the peaks of last winter. Total COVID-19 hospitalizations are on a downward trend after peaking this month at levels below the winter maximums.
Vaccinations continue to lag statewide, with just 45% of Missourians fully vaccinated.
