WEDNESDAY UPDATES: Boone County reports over 12,200 total cases in January

The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services reported 242 total new coronavirus cases for Monday. The county now delays reporting cases by two days.

The county is reporting nearly 45% of the new cases are for residents 29 and younger with the largest number of new cases being for those aged 20 to 24.

The county has reported 12,293 coronavirus cases in Jan. 2022 and 41,273 since the pandemic beginning.

The health department is reporting 143 COVID-19 patients in Boone County hospitals. Of the 143 patients, 31 are in intensive care and 18 are on ventilators.

Boone County ranks sixth in the state with the most coronavirus cases in total volume in the past week and is 15th when sorted by cases per 100,000. Cases are down 41.3% when comparing last week to the prior week. The county has a 30.1% positivity test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS).

The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard reports that 117,980 residents have received their first dose in Boone County and 104,998 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 65.4%. The largest county in the state is St. Louis County with 69.8%.

Boone County is third in the state with a reported 58.2% of residents that have completed their coronavirus vaccine doses. St. Louis County is the first county in the state with 61.6% of residents having completed the doses for vaccination. The city of Joplin has 62.2% of the population fully vaccinated.

Cole County has the second-highest first vaccination rate in Mid-Missouri with 55.1%. Callaway County is third with 51.3%.

The Columbia Public Schools reports active coronavirus and quarantine cases to their website daily. They updated it with new information from Monday.

The district reported a 14-day rate of 249.1 for Monday.

CPS reports 25 district facilities (12 elementary schools, seven middle schools, three high schools and three other district-wide facilities) currently have staff out because of COVID-19.

The district is reporting 27 coronavirus cases in staff across the district. The breakdown in staff shows 12 staff members at an elementary school, eight staff members at middle schools, four staff members at high schools and three staff members at district-wide facilities who have tested positive for COVID-19. Three staff members at elementary school have to quarantine due to being in close contact.

The district reports 24 district facilities to have students currently out due to the coronavirus. The district is reporting 16 of the elementary schools, five of the seven middle schools and three high schools are affected.

There are 49 students that have tested positive for COVID-19. The district is reporting 30 students in elementary, six students in middle school and 13 students in high school have tested positive for the coronavirus.

There are 13 students who are required to quarantine due to the coronavirus. The district reports three elementary students are currently quarantining, eight students in middle school and two students in high school.

Cole County reports 50% drop in coronavirus cases from the previous week

The Cole County Health Department reported 68 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday.

According to the dashboard update, there are 16,490 residential cases and 319 long-term care facility resident cases. That is 16,809 total cases in the county.

Cole County has reported182 coronavirus deaths since the pandemic began.

Cole County ranks 40th in the state for counties with the most coronavirus cases per 100,000 in the past week. Cases are down 50% when comparing last week to the prior week. The county has reported a 27.9% positivity test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard reports about 55.1% of the county have initiated their first dose of the vaccine and 50.9% of the county's population have been fully vaccinated.

The Jefferson City School District reported two new coronavirus cases in students and two new cases in staff members on Tuesday.

The district is reporting 28 active cases in students and eight active cases in staff.

The district is reporting 179 close contacts for students and 25 close contacts for staff.

State of Missouri reports over 7,700 new coronavirus cases

The state of Missouri reported 9,555 new and probable coronavirus cases for Wednesday.

The state of Missouri’s daily average of new coronavirus cases has gone back up to a 5,332 seven-day average (37,324 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 7,755 new coronavirus cases through PCR testing and another 1,800 probable cases identified in antigen testing from Friday, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services coronavirus dashboard. Missouri has now reported 1,082,980 confirmed cases for the pandemic and more than 261,619 probable cases.

The state recorded 24 new death for 14,289 total and 44 probable deaths were added for 3,287.

Missouri's new cases are down 37.1% over the past week, the state reports, as recent cases surge nationwide.

The rate of positive tests is 27.9% for the last week. A higher positivity suggests higher transmission and that there are likely more people with coronavirus in the community who haven’t been tested yet.

Saline (4), Miller (12), Boone (15), Callaway (17), Pettis (23), Audrain (29), Osage (30), Camden (32), Randolph (36) and Cole (40) counties are all in the top 40 Missouri counties in cases per capita over the last week, according to state statistics.

The state reports that 7.25% (a .06% increase for Wednesday) of vaccinated Missourians have developed COVID-19 infections. The state is reporting a 2,386 case increase of breakthrough cases of 246,293 breakthrough cases out of 3,397,692 fully vaccinated people. The state has reported 1,077 breakthrough deaths.

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 55.4% of Missouri residents are fully vaccinated.

COVID-19 hospitalizations are also trending down, with the state reporting 18% of total inpatient capacity and 16% of ICU capacity remaining. Those numbers are at 28% and 33% in Central Missouri, respectively. The state is reporting 3,297 patient hospitalizations. There are currently 646 patients in Missouri ICUs.