WEDNESDAY UPDATES: Third round winners announced in Missouri Vaccine Incentive Program
The state of Missouri announced the third drawing winners of $10,000 in the state’s vaccine incentive program.
At the time of the third drawing, 607,671 MO VIP residents entered to win; an increase of over 41,000 compared to the second drawing.
The state verified 169 winners of the 180 randomly selected. Alternate winners will receive the $10,000 prize if the state cannot verify the three winners.
With state and federal vaccination data combined, 64% of Missouri’s eligible population (12 and up) has now initiated vaccination.
Once a Missourian enters, their entry is good through all the drawings. There is no need to enter more than once.
The next drawing will take place this Friday, but people must enter online before 11:59 p.m.
Boone County to update coronavirus hub Thursday morning
The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services will update Thursday morning with Wednesday information.
Boone County ranks eighth in the state with the most coronavirus cases in total volume in the past week. Cases are down 8.6% on the week. The county has a 7.5% positive test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard reports that 102,544 residents have received their first dose in Boone County and 92,531 Boone County residents have completed their vaccine doses. Boone County has the second-largest percentage of county residents in Missouri that have received at least one dose of the vaccine with 56.8%. The largest county in the state is St. Louis County with 58.1%.
Boone County is second in the state with a reported 51.3% of residents that have completed their coronavirus vaccine doses. St. Louis County is the second county in the state with 51.9% of residents have completed the doses for vaccination. The city of Joplin has 54.9% of the population fully vaccinated.
Cole County has the second-highest first vaccination rate in Mid-Missouri with 49.7%. Saline and Howard County are third with 43.4%.
The Columbia Public Schools reports active coronavirus and quarantine cases to their website daily.
The district reported a 43.7 14-day rate per 10,000 for Tuesday.
CPS reports 11 district facilities (six elementary schools, one middle school, two high schools and two other district facilities) currently have staff out because of COVID-19. There is six staff at elementary and one staff at the high school level and one at a district facility that has tested positive for the coronavirus. The district has six staff currently quarantined because of COVID.
The district reports 33 district facilities to have students currently out due to the coronavirus. There are 19 out of 21 elementary, all middle schools and high schools and three districtwide facilities affected.
There are 46 students that have tested positive for COVID-19, an increase of two from Tuesday. The district is reporting 20 students in elementary, 12 students in middle school, 13 students in High School and one at a districtwide facility have tested positive for the coronavirus.
There are 296 students, which are required to quarantine due to the coronavirus, an increase of seven students from Tuesday. The district reports 155 elementary students are currently quarantining, 93 students in middle school, 40 students in high school and eight at other district facilities.
Cole County reports 12 new COVID-19 cases
The Cole County Health Department reported 12 new coronavirus cases.
According to the dashboard update, there are 10,799 residential cases and 284 long-term care facility resident cases. That is 11,083 total cases in the county.
Cole County has reported 155 coronavirus deaths.
Cole County ranks 64th in the state for counties with the most coronavirus cases per capita in the past week. Cases are down 29.8% comparing last week to the prior week. The county has an 8.2% positive test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard reports about 49.7% of the county have initiated their first dose of the vaccine and 45.3% of the county's population have been fully vaccinated.
The Jefferson City School District reported four active coronavirus cases in students and no active cases in staff.
The district is reporting eight close contacts for students and one close contact for staff.
Missouri reports more than 2,100 new cases of COVID-19
Missouri reported more than 2,100 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday.
According to data from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, PCR testing found 1,506 new cases of the virus. That's above the state's daily average of 1,465 cases for the testing method.
Antigen testing revealed another 623 new positive test results.
The statewide seven-day positivity rate slightly fell Wednesday from 10% on Tuesday to 9.9%
According to the state health department, 14 more patients died from virus-related causes over the last 24 hours. That pushed Missouri's total to 11,290 coronavirus-related deaths.
DHSS reports there are 1,730 patients are hospitalized with COVID-19 across the state. Around 292 of those patients are on ventilators.
More than 3.2 million Missourians have started the vaccination process against the virus.
That's 53.1% of Missouri's population.
