MONDAY UPDATES: Missouri DHSS adds 153 coronavirus related deaths after analyzing death certificates
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services has added 153 COVID-19 related deaths after the state’s disease surveillance system analyzed several death certificates.
Officials say the deaths will be captured and reported publicly through the dashboard Tuesday morning.
Of the 153 deaths:
- One in January
- Two in October
- 33 in November
- 117 in December
Officials at DHSS report the weekly activity typically causes a sharp increase in the deaths added to Missouri’s total the following day. DHSS is now regularly analyzing death certificates on Mondays.
Boone County reports large jump in coronavirus-related hospitalizations
The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services reported 250 new COVID-19 cases from over the holiday weekend.
There are currently 714 active cases in the county and 28,386 cases since the pandemic began. The county reported 27,485 cases removed from isolation.
Boone County ranks eighth in the state with the most coronavirus cases in total volume in the past week. Cases are up 11.1% when comparing last week to the prior week. The county has a 9.9% positivity test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS).
The health department's hospital status is yellow with 122 COVID-19 patients in Boone County hospitals (an increase of 27 from last report) and 12 of them being Boone County residents. Of the 122 patients, 37 are in intensive care and 18 are on ventilators.
The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard reports that 114,063 residents have received their first dose in Boone County and 100,529 Boone County residents have completed their vaccine doses.
Boone County has the third-largest percentage of county residents in Missouri that have received at least one dose of the vaccine with 63.2%. The largest county in the state is St. Louis County with 67.3%.
Boone County is third in the state with a reported 55.7% of residents that have completed their coronavirus vaccine doses. St. Louis County is the first county in the state with 59.4% of residents having completed the doses for vaccination. The city of Joplin has 60.5% of the population fully vaccinated.
Cole County has the second-highest first vaccination rate in Mid-Missouri with 53.7%. Callaway County is third with 49.7%.
Cole County nears 50% of residents fully vaccinated
The Cole County Health Department reported 65 new coronavirus cases from over the holiday weekend.
According to the dashboard update, there are 12,455 residential cases and 292 long-term care facility resident cases. That is 12,747 total cases in the county.
Cole County has reported 170 coronavirus deaths since the pandemic began.
Cole County ranks 53rd in the state for counties with the most coronavirus cases per 100,000 in the past week. Cases are down 32.3% when comparing last week to the prior week. The county has reported an 11.6% positivity test rate, Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard reports about 53.7% of the county have initiated their first dose of the vaccine and 49.6% of the county's population have been fully vaccinated.
Missouri DHSS reports sewershed samples show omicron variant rising across the state
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services is reporting that more than half of community sewershed samples tested from the week of Dec. 20 showed the presence of the Omicron variant.
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) continues to partner with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, the University of Missouri – Columbia, wastewater operators, and others to monitor COVID-19 trends by testing wastewater in communities throughout the state.
After Sequencing tests identified the first presence of the Omicron variant (B.1.1.529) from two sets of sewershed samples collected on Dec. 7-8 in Jackson County and Buchanan County, the state identified 32 of 57 samples tested positive with the omicron variant during the testing week of Dec. 20, including in Columbia.
“Our robust program for monitoring COVID-19 through sewershed sampling provides us with reliable information regarding the presence of the virus and its variants,” said Donald Kauerauf, DHSS Director. “The existence of the Omicron variant is becoming much more prevalent each week, making the actions of COVID-19 individual testing, vaccination and other mitigation measures more important as we already face the threat of the Delta variant and an increase in flu cases.”
DHSS continues to recommend that residents follow prevention strategies such as wearing a mask in public indoor settings, frequent handwashing and maintaining physical distance from others.
Missouri reports nearly 10,000 new coronavirus cases over holiday weekend
The state of Missouri reported 9,979 new and probable coronavirus cases over Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
The state of Missouri’s daily average of new coronavirus cases has gone back up to a 2,408 seven-day average (16,859 confirmed cases from the previous week of reporting) as the state reports new coronavirus cases across the state according to state health department reporting. The daily average looks at the last seven days and doesn't account for the past three days, which will push that number even higher.
The state reported 8,239 new coronavirus cases through PCR testing and another 1,740 probable cases identified in antigen testing from over the weekend, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services coronavirus dashboard. Missouri has now reported 801,013 confirmed cases for the pandemic and more than 185,866 probable cases.
The state recorded six more confirmed deaths for 12,970 and one new probable death for 2,917 total.
Missouri's new cases are up 12.4% over the past week, the state reports, as recent cases surge nationwide.
The rate of positive tests was at 15.5% for the last week.
Cole, Pettis, Callaway, Osage, Moniteau, Miller, Saline and Boone counties are all in the top 40 Missouri counties in new cases per capita over the last week, according to state statistics.
The state reports that over 2.43% (a .13 increase from Thursday) of vaccinated Missourians have developed COVID-19 infections.
Experts continue to tout vaccination as the best tool to fight the wave of new cases. Still, new vaccinations have effectively stalled in Missouri, with more boosters being given daily than first or second shots. The state reported Thursday that 53.5% of Missouri residents are fully vaccinated.
COVID-19 hospitalizations are also trending upward, with the state reporting 30% of total hospital capacity and 23% of ICU capacity remaining. Those numbers are at 41% and 36% in Central Missouri, respectively.
Cole County logs sharp coronavirus case decline leading into holidays
Cole County's new coronavirus cases dropped by a quarter in the week leading up to Christmas compared to the week before, according to the county health department.
The Cole County Health Department said Monday that the county saw 135 new cases in the week ending last Thursday, Christmas Eve. That was down from 181 the week before.
Of the new cases, 47 were in vaccinated people, the health department reported. The county reported one new coronavirus death and said 53.6% of Cole County residents have received at least one coronavirus vaccine shot. About 50% are fully vaccinated, according to the state health department.
The county has reported nearly 13,000 coronavirus cases during the pandemic and 170 deaths.
Cole and Boone counties have not reported new coronavirus case numbers since last Thursday. Those numbers, along with state numbers from over the weekend, are expected to be reported Monday afternoon.
