FRIDAY UPDATES: Missouri reports over 12,000 new COVID cases in the past week

The state of Missouri is reporting 12,749 new coronavirus cases for the week of July 21 through Wednesday.

The state reported 998 patient hospitalizations and 135 patients in the ICU for the week of July 20.

The dashboard is showing COVID community levels for the central region to be low with cases down by 14% compared to the previous week. The central region includes Howard, Boone, Audrain, Montgomery, Gasconade, Osage, Cole, Callaway, Miller, Camden, Morgan, Moniteau and Cooper County. The central region and the northeast region are the only regions in Missouri with a low COVID-19 community level.

Maries County is considered in the southwest region and cases are down 5.9% in the region; the county is considered to be in the high COVID-19 community level. Pettis and Saline County are considered in the Kansas City region and cases are up 10.9% in that region and the region is considered to be in the high COVID-19 community level.

Saline County is the only county in Mid-Missouri considered to have a high COVID community level. Chariton, Randolph, Howard, Boone, Cooper, Pettis, Morgan and Callaway County are considered to have a medium COVID community level. Audrain, Montgomery, Osage, Maries, Miller, Cole and Moniteau County are considered to have a low COVID community level.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that the COVID-19 community level is determined by the higher of new admissions and inpatient beds metrics, based on the current level of new cases per 100,000 population in the past week.

The omicron variant remains the dominant variant in Missouri. As of the week of July 10, the state is reporting the BA.2.12.1 lineage is 8% of cases, BA.4 is 8% and the BA.5 lineage as 80% of cases. The other 4% is considered other.

Boone County reports 54 new COVID cases

The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services is reporting that 54 new coronavirus cases were added to the information hub on Friday. The county reported 51 cases on Wednesday and the rest of the cases were reported in the month of July.

The county delays reporting cases by two days.

The dashboard is showing 30 COVID-19 patients in Boone County hospitals. There are three patients in the ICU and one patient is on a ventilator.

The health care system capacity moved back to green. Green status means:

• Operating within licensed bed capacity; accepting patient transfers from referring hospitals within standard care operating procedures. 

Additionally, 49,163 COVID-19 cases were recorded previously.

Boone County is reported to have a high COVID-19 community level, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS). 

Here are the CDC's risk mitigation recommendations for the red (high) level:

• Wear a mask indoors in public
• Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines
• Get tested if you have symptoms
• Additional precautions may be needed for people at high risk for severe illness

If you took a COVID-19 test at home that was positive, Boone County is also encouraging those that took the test to report the results at the link.

Cole County reports four new COVID cases

The Cole County Health Department reported four new coronavirus cases on Friday. The county reported four new cases on Thursday.

The weekly Missouri COVID update shows that Cole County has a low COVID community level.

In the week prior to July 22, there were 73 COVID positive cases, 44 breakthrough cases and zero COVID deaths.

According to a release, 61% or 46,850 of Cole County residents have received at least one dose of the COVID Vaccine.