THURSDAY UPDATES: Boone County reports second coronavirus-related death this week
The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services is reporting one new coronavirus-related death. That makes 151 since the pandemic started. The individual was in the 65-69 age group and died Sept. 8.
The county is reporting 43 new COVID-19 cases.
There are currently 612 active cases in the county. The county now has a reported total number of 24,028 COVID-19 cases.
The county reported 23,265 cases removed from isolation.
Boone County ranks seventh in the state with the most coronavirus cases in total volume in the past week. Cases are up 20.5% on the week. The county has a 8.8% positive test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
The health department's hospital status remains green, with 99 COVID-19 patients in Boone County hospitals and 23 of them being Boone County residents. Of those, 23 are in intensive care and 13 are on ventilators.
The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard reports that 102,323 residents have received their first dose in Boone County and 92,117 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 56.7 %. The second closest county in the state is St. Louis County with 55.9%.
Boone County is first in the state with a reported 51% of residents that have completed their coronavirus vaccine doses. St. Louis County is the second county in the state with 50.1% of residents have completed the doses for vaccination. The city of Joplin has 54.4% of the population fully vaccinated.
Cole County has the second-highest first vaccination rate in Mid-Missouri with 49%. Montgomery County is third with 45%.
The Columbia Public Schools reports active coronavirus and quarantine cases to their website daily.
On Wednesday, the district reported a 49.7 14-day rate per 10,000.
CPS reports 13 district facilities (six elementary schools, one middle school, three high schools and three other district facilities) currently have staff out because of COVID-19. There is seven staff at elementary and two staff at a high school have tested positive for the coronavirus. The district has 11 staff currently quarantined because of COVID.
The district reports 32 district facilities to have students currently out due to the coronavirus. There are 18 out of 21 elementary, all middle and high schools and three districtwide facilities affected.
There are 59 students that have tested positive for COVID-19, an increase of one from Wednesday. The district is reporting 31 students in elementary, 12 students in middle school, 14 students in High School and two at a districtwide facility have tested positive for the coronavirus.
There are 367 students, which are required to quarantine due to the coronavirus, an increase of 34 students. The district reports 169 elementary students are currently quarantining, 123 students in middle school, 56 students in high school and 22 at other district facilities.
Southern Boone Elementary School to require masks for two weeks
The Southern Boone Elementary School will require masks Friday for the next two weeks according to Superintendent Christopher Felmlee.
Felmlee wrote in a press release that 15% of the school population is out due to COVID-19 related positive cases and quarantines.
The elementary school currently has 82 students quarantined, five students have coronavirus cases and one staff is COVID positive.
The masking policy is part of the district’s Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Service Plan and was approved in August.
The masking requirement will be reevaluated on Sept. 30.
Felmlee says that masks will continue to be encouraged, but not required at the primary, middle and high schools.
Cole County nearing 11,000 coronavirus cases since the pandemic started
The Cole County Health Department reported 12 new coronavirus cases from over the weekend.
According to the dashboard update, there are 10,710 residential cases and 284 long-term care facility resident cases. That is 10,994 total cases in the county.
Cole County has reported 155 coronavirus deaths; nine deaths were reported Tuesday after the state analyzed death certificates.
Cole County ranks 53rd in the state for counties with the most coronavirus cases per capita in the past week. Cases are up 5.5% comparing last week to the prior 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 49% of the county have initiated their first dose of the vaccine and 44.6% of the county's population have been fully vaccinated.
The Jefferson City School District reported three new student coronavirus cases. The district has 16 active coronavirus cases in students and two active cases in staff.
The district is reporting eight close contacts for students and one close contact for staff.
Unemployment claims up slightly in Missouri and nationwide
More than 5,600 Missourians filed new unemployment claims last week.
According to data from the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, 5,659 people filed initial jobless claims during the week ending Sept. 11. The number of claims increased by more than a thousand from the week prior.
However, compared to the week ending Aug. 28, when nearly 11,000 Missourians filed for unemployment benefits, filings were nearly cut in half.
Nationwide jobless claims also increased by 20,000 last week to 332,000.
The week before, the U.S. recorded a pandemic-low number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits, with the Department of Labor reporting 312,000 new claims.
Boone County records another COVID-19 death
EDITOR'S NOTE: This blog entry has been corrected to reflect that the county reported 85 cases.
The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services recorded an additional death due to COVID-19. Since the pandemic began, 150 Boone Countians have died from the virus.
The death was added to the county's COVID-19 information hub Thursday morning but was a delayed report from Wednesday.
Boone County health officials recorded 85 new coronavirus cases. As of Thursday morning, 660 people across the county had active COVID-19 infections after 28 patients were also removed from isolation.
Though the healthcare system remains at the green capacity level, there are still over a hundred patients in Boone County hospitals with the virus. A total of 101 patients are being treated for COVID-19. Of those patients, 22 are Boone County residents.
Missouri adds more than 2,600 new cases of COVID-19
The State of Missouri reported more than 2,600 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday.
According to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, PCR testing revealed 1,987 new cases of the virus. Another 652 new cases were found through the use of antigen testing.
The state's seven-day positivity rate slightly dropped from 10.9% on Wednesday to 10.8%.
Data from the state health department showed another seven new virus-related deaths. There have been 11,028 coronavirus-related deaths in Missouri since the pandemic started.
Hospitals across the state reported 1,922 patients were hospitalized with COVID-19. Around 311 of those patients are on ventilators.
More than 3.2 million Missourians have started the process to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
That's about 52.8% of Missouri's population.
