FRIDAY UPDATES: Boone County reports active cases up past 600 for the first time in two weeks
The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services is reporting 67 new COVID-19 cases Friday.
There are currently 603 active cases in the county, an increase of 12 from Thursday. The county now has a reported total number of 23,243 COVID-19 cases.
The county reported 22,499 cases removed from isolation, an increase of 55 from Thursday.
Boone County ranks eighth in the state with the most coronavirus cases in total volume in the past week. Cases are up 18.1% when comparing the past seven days to the prior seven days. The county has an 11.1% positive test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
The health department's hospital status remains yellow, with 118 COVID-19 patients in Boone County hospitals and 18 of them being Boone County residents. Of those, 38 are in intensive care and 14 are on ventilators.
The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard is reporting that 101,471 residents have received their first dose in Boone County and 90,380 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 56.2%. The second closest county in the state is St. Louis County with 55.3%.
Boone County is the first county in the state with a reported 50.1% of residents that have completed their coronavirus vaccine doses. St. Louis County is the second county in the state with 49.1% of residents have completed the doses for vaccination. The city of Joplin has 52.2% of the population fully vaccinated.
Cole County has the second-highest first vaccination rate in Mid-Missouri with 48.6%. Montgomery County is third with 44.2%.
In Boone County, Columbia Public Schools and Southern Boone School District publish active coronavirus and quarantine cases to their websites.
CPS reports 10 district facilities (three elementary schools, one middle school, one high school and five other facilities) currently have staff out because of COVID-19. There is one staff at a middle school, three at the high school and one at other districtwide facilities that have tested positive for the coronavirus. The district has 15 staff currently quarantined because of COVID.
The district reports 30 district facilities to have students currently out due to the coronavirus. There are 17 out of 21 elementary, all middle and high schools and two districtwide facilities affected.
There are 69 students that have tested positive for COVID-19; an increase of one from Thursday. The district is reporting 36 students in elementary, 13 students in middle school and 19 students in High School and one at a district-wide facility have tested positive for the coronavirus.
There are 391 students, a decrease of one student, which are required to quarantine due to the coronavirus. The district reports 245 elementary students are currently quarantining, 44 students in middle school and 100 students in high school.
At the Southern Boone School District, there are four students that have active coronavirus cases. Seven students are required to quarantine (five in elementary school) due to close contact.
Cole County nears 50% of the population getting the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine
The Cole County Health Department reported 24 new coronavirus cases.
According to the dashboard update, there are 10,476 residential cases and 284 long-term care facility resident cases. That is 10,760 total cases in the county.
Cole County has the highest number of coronavirus deaths in Mid-Missouri with 146. The county did not report any new deaths Friday.
Cole County ranks 41st in the state for counties with the most coronavirus cases per capita in the past week. Cases are down 21.1% on the week. The county has a 10.6% positive test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard reports about 48.6% of the county have initiated their first dose of the vaccine and 43.4% of the county's population have been fully vaccinated.
The Jefferson City School District reports five new coronavirus cases Friday. The district has 13 active coronavirus cases in students and six active cases in staff.
The district is reporting five close contacts for students and one close contact for staff.
Two Moniteau County schools to provide rapid COVID-19 testing for students and staff
Tipton R-VI School District and St. Andrews Catholic School are helping the community by providing rapid COVID-19 testing.
Anyone wishing to be tested will need to go to the high school circle drive on Sunday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and stay in the vehicle to be tested.
Parents or guardians will need to be present to give consent for students to be tested.
The testing is free to all students and staff.
Let’s get the COVID OUT of our community- test for it, find it, isolate it, get over it! We’re offering free rapid testing this Sunday 1pm-3pm - thank you Nurse Molly! pic.twitter.com/W3MJjkeX3Q
— Tipton R-VI School District (@TiptonRVIdist) September 3, 2021
According to the Missouri Hospital Association and Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education COVID-19 in school district communities report through August 31, there are 76 coronavirus cases since March 1, 2020, and one to 10 cases in the past 14 days for those aged five through 19.
The Moniteau County Health Department reports 88 active COVID cases; 36 people have died from the coronavirus and 2,586 cases since the pandemic started. In August, the county had the highest number of coronavirus cases in 2021 when they reported 352 cases, an increase of 126 over the second of highest month of July.
According to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, there have been 30 cases in the past week. DHSS reports the county has an 11.1% positivity rate and cases are down 42.3% when comparing the past seven days to the prior seven days.
The Missouri state coronavirus dashboard has reported 33.4% of the county has initiated the vaccine and 29.2% have completed the vaccine.
Columbia Public Schools quarantines, active student cases rise
Columbia Public Schools added new active student coronavirus cases and quarantines to its tally on Friday.
The district reported three more active cases in students for a total of 69 cases. The district also reported three more quarantines, bringing that total to 391.
Most of the cases and quarantines -- 36 and 245, respectively -- are in elementary schools, where students are not yet old enough to be vaccinated against the coronavirus. The cases and quarantines are affecting 17 of 21 elementary schools and all middle and high schools.
State data show cases have risen this summer in Boone County children ages 5 to 14.
Overall, cases in Boone County are holding steady at rates last seen in February, when vaccine access was limited.
The University of Missouri reported six new student cases Friday, with the active student case total rising to 44. The campus has reported 75 student cases since Aug. 22.
More than 70% of recent Boone County coronavirus cases in unvaccinated
The Columbia/Boone County Health Department said Friday that about 71% of new coronavirus cases from Aug. 9-15 were in unvaccinated people.
The department posted on social media that 328 of the 461 people who tested positive for coronavirus that week were not fully vaccinated. That number includes people for whom the department could not verify their vaccination status and those who were only partially vaccinated.
New cases stayed relatively level since late August after a summer surge powered by the more contagious delta variant. As of Thursday, the average of new daily cases was 48.8, down from 88 on July 23. The current case rate is comparable to early February before vaccines were widely available.
The county's hospitals are treating 125 COVID-19 patients, with 37 of them in intensive care.
Coronavirus cases on the rise in school-age children in Missouri
New coronavirus cases are on the rise in the school-age population in Missouri as districts such as Columbia Public Schools are reporting scores of active cases and students in quarantine.
Cases in the 10-14 age group have risen to 96.6 per day on average, compared to 11.7 cases on average on June 1 -- before the delta variant led to a large increase in cases. The 5-9 age group is averaging 86.7 new cases per day, up from 5.4 cases per day on June 1. These groups are largely unvaccinated because children under 12 are not eligible for a coronavirus shot.
CPS reported 66 active student cases and 388 students in quarantine as of Thursday.
Missouri reported 2,081 new confirmed coronavirus cases on Friday for a pandemic total of 636,377. Friday was the second day in a row with confirmed cases surpassing 2,000. The daily average of new cases is 1,566, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
The state also reported 745 new probable cases through antigen testing for a total of 130,123 for the entire pandemic. Missouri logged 19 new deaths for a total of 10,651.
New cases are down 11.9% over the past week and deaths have declined 44.2% in that time, the state reported.
Most of Missouri's population has not been vaccinated, which health experts say is the most effective way to dampen the current surge. And rates of new vaccinations keep declining -- an average of 11,265 per day as of Thursday compared to 15,422 on Aug. 21.
The number of COVID-19 patients in Missouri ICUs remains at levels comparable to last winter's surge though it has declined in the past few days from an average above 680 to an average of about 650 as of Tuesday, the most recent reliable data.
