WEDNESDAY UPDATES: Active coronavirus cases up, hospitalizations steady in Boone County
Boone County gained 45 new active coronavirus cases Wednesday, pushing that number to 552.
Meanwhile, hospitalizations stayed steady at 97 and COVID-19 patients in intensive care dropped.
The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services reported 76 new cases Wednesday, continuing a downward trend in average daily cases. The average hit 40.4 on Wednesday, after a seasonal peak of 71.4 on Dec. 3. Despite that trend, active cases have been rising, going above 500 on Tuesday for the first time in weeks.
The county's hospitals were treating 97 COVID-19 patients Wednesday, the same number as Tuesday. The number of patients in intensive care dropped from 34 to 31. Boone County recorded no new deaths Wednesday.
The number of fully vaccinated Boone County residents ticked up a tenth of a percentage point Wednesday, reaching 55%. The county is among the state's most vaccinated. About 53% of Missouri residents are fully vaccinated.
Cole County adds 50-plus new cases
Cole County reported 53 new coronavirus cases Wednesday, continuing an upward trend.
The county has now logged four days of more than 30 coronavirus cases in December, compared with three in November and none in October. The county's pandemic case total now stands at 12,513. The county added no deaths to its tally of 169.
Cole County ranks 50th on the state's list of most new cases per capita, but that doesn't take the last three days into account. The state health department reports 49% of Cole County residents are fully vaccinated, which trails the state rate by four percentage points.
New coronavirus cases above state average while hospitalizations rise
New coronavirus cases reported in Missouri on Wednesday were well above the average for the last week, while hospitalizations are continuing their upward trend.
The state logged 2,421 new confirmed cases Wednesday for a total of 771,735 since the start of the pandemic. The average of new daily cases over the last week is about 1,900. Missouri also reported another 1,134 probable cases identified through antigen testing and has recorded 177,746 probable cases since the pandemic started.
Probable cases reported Wednesday were 500 above the daily average.
Missouri reported 13 new deaths for a total of 12,810.
Despite the new cases reported Wednesday, the state health department reports cases are down 8.5% over the last week. The last few days do not figure into the weekly average. But overall cases have been elevated this fall -- part of another wave of infections that has affected the entire country.
COVID-19 hospitalizations continued the upward trend they've been on since early November, reaching nearly 1,900 on Sunday -- the last day with accurate numbers. That more than doubles the number of hospitalizations that were being reported in early November. Wednesday's total was still about 1,000 less than the record hospitalizations experienced last winter as the delta variant became dominant.
The state reports 19% of hospital beds and 18% of intensive care beds are available statewide. Those numbers are 35% and 41% in the Central Missouri region.
The percentage of fully vaccinated Missourians was at about 53% on Wednesday, having barely moved since the previous day. The rate has grown slowly this fall, as more people get boosters than those getting first and second doses. Health experts continue to say vaccination is the best way to fight severe illness from COVID-19, stressing that message even more with the emergence of the omicron variant.
The state reported about 2% of vaccinated Missourians have contracted coronavirus.
