TUESDAY UPDATES: Boone County reports COVID cases down over 30% compared to last week; positivity rate is 3.5%

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

The dashboard is showing 27 COVID-19 patients in Boone County hospitals. Of the 27 patients, two are in intensive care and one is on a ventilator.

The county has reported 42,734 since the pandemic began. The county has reported 13,855 cases since 2022 started.

Boone County ranks seventh in the state with the most coronavirus cases in total volume in the past week and is 27th when sorted by cases per 100,000. Cases are down 30% when comparing last week to the prior week. The county has a 3.5% positivity test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS).

The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard reports that 118,673 residents have received their first dose in Boone County and 106,125 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 65.8%. The largest county in the state is St. Louis County with 70.7%.

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 62.8% of residents having completed the doses for vaccination. The city of Joplin has 63.3% of the population fully vaccinated.

Cole County has the second-highest first vaccination rate in Mid-Missouri with 55.5%. Callaway County is third with 51.7%.

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

The district reported a 6.9 14-day rate for last Sunday.

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 14 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, two staff member at the high schools 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 five of the elementary schools, three middle schools and two high schools are affected.

The district is reporting one student in elementary school, one in middle school and one in high school has tested positive for the coronavirus.

There are 11 students who are required to quarantine due to the coronavirus. The district reports three elementary students are currently quarantining, seven students in middle school and one student in high school.

Cole County reports 3.8% positivity rate

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

According to the dashboard update, there are 16,996 residential cases and 330 long-term care facility resident cases. That is 17,326 total cases in the county since March 2020.

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

Cole County ranks 42nd in the state for counties with the most coronavirus cases per 100,000 in the past week. Cases are down 14.3% when comparing last week to the prior week. The county has reported a 3.8% positivity test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard reports about 55.5% of the county have initiated their first dose of the vaccine and 51.6% 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 Monday.

The district is reporting two active cases in a student.

State of Missouri reports average new daily coronavirus cases back under 200

The state of Missouri reported 587 new and probable coronavirus cases from Tuesday.

The state health department is reporting a 197 seven-day coronavirus case average (1,377 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 322 new coronavirus cases through PCR testing and another 265 probable cases identified in antigen testing from Thursday, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services coronavirus dashboard. Missouri has now reported 1,128,391 confirmed cases for the pandemic and more than 276,519 probable cases.

The state added 295 deaths for 15,937 total and 68 new probable death was added for 3,789.

Missouri's new cases are down 38.5% over the past week, the state reports, as recent cases go down nationwide.

The rate of positive tests is 3.1% 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 (19), Audrain (25), Miller (26), Boone (27), Callaway (28) and Saline (31) 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 8.06% (.01 change for Tuesday) of vaccinated Missourians have developed COVID-19 infections. The state is reporting 278,898 breakthrough cases out of 3,460,145 fully vaccinated people. The state has reported 1,695 breakthrough deaths.

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

The state reported Wednesday that 56.4% of Missouri residents are fully vaccinated.

COVID-19 hospitalizations are also trending down, with the state reporting 21% of total inpatient capacity and 23% of ICU capacity remaining. Those numbers are at 35% and 42% in Central Missouri, respectively. The state is reporting 765 patient hospitalizations. There are currently 130 patients in Missouri ICUs. The hospital status for all of Missouri is on a three-day delay, the latest information is from Saturday.

More than 400 new coronavirus deaths added to Missouri total

Missouri added 413 coronavirus deaths to its total Tuesday, including nearly 250 that occurred in February.

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services released its weekly count of additional coronavirus deaths found during the state's regular review of death certificates. The 413 new deaths included 247 in February and 134 in January -- one of the deadliest months of the entire pandemic. Another 134 deaths were identified in January.

Missouri has reported nearly 20,000 confirmed and probable COVID-19 deaths since the pandemic started two years ago. More than 1.1 million confirmed infections have been reported.

Deaths during January surged to levels not seen since last winter as omicron swept the country. They've since fallen, along with new cases and hospitalizations. January includes several days with more than 50 reported deaths.

Studies showed that vaccination remained effective against hospitalization and death while the highly contagious omicron variant spread. A large percentage of Missourians -- about 44% -- are not fully vaccinated.