MONDAY UPDATES: Missouri DHSS adds 246 coronavirus related deaths after analyzing death certificates

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services has added 246 COVID-19 related deaths after the state’s disease surveillance system analyzed death certificates.

Officials say the deaths will be captured and reported publicly through the dashboard Tuesday morning.

Of the 246 deaths:

• One in January 2021
• One in September 2021
• Two in November 2021
• Nine in December 2021
• 38 in January
• 195 in February

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 positivity rate below 5%

The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services is reporting 21 new coronavirus cases were added to the information hub on Monday. The county now delays reporting cases by two days.

The dashboard is showing 36 COVID-19 patients in Boone County hospitals. Of the 36 patients, five are in intensive care and three are on ventilators.

The county has reported 42,679 since the pandemic began. The county has reported 13,799 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 31st when sorted by cases per 100,000. Cases are down 37% when comparing last week to the prior week. The county has a 4.9% positivity test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS).

The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard reports that 118,633 residents have received their first dose in Boone County and 106,036 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 65.7%. The largest county in the state is St. Louis County with 70.6%.

Boone County is third in the state with a reported 58.8% of residents that have completed their coronavirus vaccine doses. St. Louis County is the first county in the state with 62.6% of residents having completed the doses for vaccination. The city of Joplin has 63.1% of the population fully vaccinated.

Cole County has the second-highest first vaccination rate in Mid-Missouri with 55.4%. Callaway County is third with 51.6%.

The Columbia Public Schools reports active coronavirus and quarantine cases to their website daily.

The district reported a 12.8 14-day rate for last Saturday.

CPS reports 15 district facilities (seven elementary schools, four middle schools, one high school and three other district-wide facilities) currently have staff out because of COVID-19.

The district is reporting 13 coronavirus cases in staff across the district. The breakdown in staff shows six staff members at an elementary school, four staff members at middle schools, one staff member at a high school and two 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 10 district facilities to have students currently out due to the coronavirus. The district is reporting six of the elementary schools, two middle schools, one high school and one district-wide facility are affected.

There are four students that have tested positive for the coronavirus. The district is reporting three students in elementary and one student at a high school have tested positive for the coronavirus.

There are 12 students who are required to quarantine due to the coronavirus. The district reports three elementary students are currently quarantining, seven students in middle school, one student in high school and one student at a district-wide facility.

Cole County reports coronavirus cases down over 63% compared to last week

The Cole County Health Department reported two new coronavirus cases on Monday.

According to the dashboard update, there are 16,966 residential cases and 329 long-term care facility resident cases. That is 17,295 total cases in the county since March 2020.

Cole County has reported 190 coronavirus deaths since the pandemic began.

Cole County ranks 70th in the state for counties with the most coronavirus cases per 100,000 in the past week. Cases are down 63.6% when comparing last week to the prior week. The county has reported a 3.2% positivity test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard reports about 55.4% of the county have initiated their first dose of the vaccine and 51.5% of the county's population have been fully vaccinated.

The Jefferson City School District reported no new coronavirus case in a student or staff on Sunday.

The district is reporting two active cases in a student.

State of Missouri's positivity rate drops below 5%

The state of Missouri reported 1,024 new and probable coronavirus cases from over the weekend.

The state health department is reporting a 315 seven-day coronavirus case average (2,203 confirmed cases from the previous week of reporting). The daily average looks at the last seven days and doesn't account for the past three days.

The dashboard reported 816 new coronavirus cases through PCR testing and another 226 probable cases identified in antigen testing from Thursday, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services coronavirus dashboard. Missouri has now reported 1,125,901 confirmed cases for the pandemic and more than 274,860 probable cases.

The state removed two deaths for 15,415 total and one new probable death was added for 3,673.

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

The rate of positive tests is 4.5% 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.

Howard (20), Osage (27), Boone (31) and Cooper (34) 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 8.01% (no change for Monday) of vaccinated Missourians have developed COVID-19 infections. The state is reporting 276,368 breakthrough cases out of 3,451,997 fully vaccinated people. The state has reported 1,606 breakthrough deaths.

Experts continue to tout vaccination as the best tool to fight the wave of new cases.

The state reported Monday that 56.2% of Missouri residents are fully vaccinated.

COVID-19 hospitalizations are also trending down, with the state reporting 16% of total inpatient capacity and 22% of ICU capacity remaining. Those numbers are at 21% and 29% in Central Missouri, respectively. The state is reporting 1,032 patient hospitalizations. There are currently 182 patients in Missouri ICUs. The hospital status for all of Missouri is on a three-day delay, the latest information is from Friday.