WEDNESDAY UPDATES: Health Department reports drop in COVID-19 patients at Boone County hospitals
The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services is reporting 34 new coronavirus cases were added to the information hub for Monday. The county now delays reporting cases by two days.
The dashboard is showing 61 COVID-19 patients in Boone County hospitals. Of the 61 patients, five are in intensive care and two are on ventilators.
The county has reported 42,505 since the pandemic began. The county has reported 13,625 cases since 2022 started.
Boone County ranks eighth in the state with the most coronavirus cases in total volume in the past week and is 47th when sorted by cases per 100,000. Cases are down 53.2% when comparing last week to the prior week. The county has an 8.8% positivity test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS).
The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard reports that 118,383 residents have received their first dose in Boone County and 105,715 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 65.6%. The largest county in the state is St. Louis County with 70.3%.
Boone County is third in the state with a reported 58.6% of residents that have completed their coronavirus vaccine doses. St. Louis County is the first county in the state with 62.2% of residents have completed the doses for vaccination. The city of Joplin has 62.9% of the population fully vaccinated.
Cole County has the second-highest first vaccination rate in Mid-Missouri with 55.3%. Callaway County is third with 51.5%.
The Columbia Public Schools reports active coronavirus and quarantine cases to their website daily.
The district reported a 29.9 14-day rate for last Monday.
CPS reports 17 district facilities (seven elementary schools, five middle schools, one high school and four other district-wide facilities) currently have staff out because of COVID-19.
The district is reporting 18 coronavirus cases in staff across the district. The breakdown in staff shows eight staff members at an elementary school, five staff members at middle schools, two 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 12 district facilities to have students currently out due to the coronavirus. The district is reporting seven of the elementary schools, three middle schools and two high schools are affected.
There are nine students that have tested positive for the coronavirus. The district is reporting three students in elementary, three students at the middle school level and three students at the high school level have tested positive for the coronavirus.
There are 13 students who are required to quarantine due to the coronavirus. The district reports four elementary students are currently quarantining, eight students in middle school and one student in high school.
Cole County reports a positivity rate under 9%
The Cole County Health Department reported 10 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday.
According to the dashboard update, there are 16,911 residential cases and 328 long-term care facility resident cases. That is 17,239 total cases in the county since March 2020.
Cole County has reported 188 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 54.3% when comparing last week to the prior week. The county has reported an 8.3% positivity test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard reports about 55.3% of the county have initiated their first dose of the vaccine and 51.3% of the county's population have been fully vaccinated.
The Jefferson City School District reported one new coronavirus case in a student on Wednesday.
The district is reporting seven active cases in students.
State of Missouri reports new coronavirus cases down nearly 49% compared to last week
The state of Missouri reported 1,247 new and probable coronavirus cases on Wednesday.
The state of Missouri’s daily average of new coronavirus cases has gone back up to a 763 seven-day average (5,341 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.
The state reported 825 new coronavirus cases through PCR testing and another 422 probable cases identified in antigen testing from Wednesday, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services coronavirus dashboard. Missouri has now reported 1,120,269 confirmed cases for the pandemic and more than 272,470 probable cases.
The state recorded 13 new deaths for 14,907 total and six probable deaths were added for 3,475.
Missouri's new cases are down 48.8% over the past week, the state reports, as recent cases surge nationwide.
The rate of positive tests is 8.3% 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.
Osage (5), Maries (6), Callaway (13), Chariton (14), Saline (21), Miller (37) 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 7.61% (no increase for Thursday) of vaccinated Missourians have developed COVID-19 infections. The state is reporting 261,333 breakthrough cases out of 3,435,919 fully vaccinated people. The state has reported 1,277 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 56% of Missouri residents are fully vaccinated.
COVID-19 hospitalizations are also trending down, with the state reporting 21% of total inpatient capacity and 22% of ICU capacity remaining. Those numbers are at 28% and 37% in Central Missouri, respectively. The state is reporting 1,638 patient hospitalizations. There are currently 335 patients in Missouri ICUs. The hospital status for all of Missouri is on a two-day delay, the latest information if from Sunday.
