TUESDAY UPDATES: Cooper County changing how health center follows up on positive case contacts

The Cooper County Public Health Center is changing how they follow-up on positive case contacts.

The department says that with an increase of cases, individuals communicate with staff about contact tracing.

The department will now make the following changes:

• If you are an adult who has been diagnosed with COVID and have questions about quarantine or need an excuse for work, call the department at 660-882-2626 and a nurse will help you
• School age children and families will be a priority
• Information on quarantine and COVID care will be mailed to all adult households upon receiving a report of a positive covid diagnosis

Active cases remain over 500 in Boone County

The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services reported 64 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday.

There are currently 575 active cases in the county and 27,994 cases since the pandemic began. The county reported 27,237 cases removed from isolation.

Boone County ranks 11th in the state with the most coronavirus cases in total volume in the past week. Cases are up 6.4% when comparing last week to the prior week. The county has a 10.2% positivity test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS).

The health department's hospital status is yellow with 100 COVID-19 patients in Boone County hospitals and 22 of them being Boone County residents. Of the 100 patients, 27 are in intensive care and 12 are on ventilators.

The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard reports that 113,351 residents have received their first dose in Boone County and 99,923 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 62.8%. The largest county in the state is St. Louis County with 66.7%.

Boone County is third in the state with a reported 55.4% of residents that have completed their coronavirus vaccine doses. St. Louis County is the first county in the state with 58.9% of residents having completed the doses for vaccination. The city of Joplin has 60.2% of the population fully vaccinated.

Cole County has the second-highest first vaccination rate in Mid-Missouri with 53.4%. Callaway County is third with 49.4%.

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

The district reported a 50.1 14-day rate per 10,000 for Tuesday. The highest the rate has been since Sept. 20.

CPS reports 14 district facilities (five elementary schools, four middle schools, two high schools and three other district-wide facilities) currently have staff out because of COVID-19. The district is reporting six staff members at an elementary school, four staff members at middle schools, two staff members at high schools and four staff members at district-wide facilities who have tested positive for COVID-19. Three staff members at elementary schools, one staff member at a middle school and one staff member at a district-wide facility have to quarantine due to being a close contact.

The district reports 31 district facilities to have students currently out due to the coronavirus. The district is reporting 19 of the elementary schools, all of the middle schools, three of the high schools and two district-wide facilities are affected.

There are 43 students that have tested positive for COVID-19. The district is reporting 25 students in elementary, five students in middle school and 13 students in high school have tested positive for the coronavirus.

There are 232 students who are required to quarantine due to the coronavirus. The district reports 166 elementary students are currently quarantining, 43 students in middle school, 23 students in high school and two students at district-wide facilities.

Cole County reports 27 new coronavirus cases; one new coronavirus-related death

The Cole County Health Department reported 27 new coronavirus cases from Tuesday.

According to the dashboard update, there are 12,333 residential cases and 292 long-term care facility resident cases. That is 12,625 total cases in the county.

Cole County reported a new death, making 170 coronavirus deaths since the pandemic began. Cole County Health Department Director Kristi Campbell says the person passed away in November.

Cole County ranks 38th in the state for counties with the most coronavirus cases per 100,000 in the past week. Cases are up 31.3% when comparing last week to the prior week. The county has reported a 12.6% positivity test rate, Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard reports about 53.4% of the county have initiated their first dose of the vaccine and 49.3% of the county's population have been fully vaccinated.

The Jefferson City School District reported no new coronavirus cases in students or in staff members from Tuesday.

The district is reporting five active cases in students and seven active cases in staff.

The district is reporting 160 close contacts for students and 19 close contacts for staff.

Nearly all Missouri counties remain at high transmission level according to latest red zone report

The newest State Profile Report shows Missouri counties remain at the high transmission level of COVID-19. The report shows new cases remain at 323 cases per 100,000 people, the same as last week.

The report shows Missouri had 19,806 new cases of COVID-19 for the week of Dec. 17.

The report also indicates 153 residents died from the coronavirus, a 39% increase from the previous week.

All Missouri counties except Shannon are considered high community transmission.

The report states that 72.7% of Missouri residents 18 years and older have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine and 62.6% are considered fully vaccinated.

According to the report, over 98% of coronavirus cases were identified as the delta variant. According to the CDC, .2% of cases are the omicron variant.

According to the report, 32 hospitals are dealing with staffing shortages, which account for 27% of hospitals in the state. Seven hospitals are currently dealing with supply shortages or six percent of all hospitals.

Vaccine rates are down with 29,885 people 12 and older initiated getting a vaccination last week, which is 17% lower than the last report. 1,488 people 12-17 initiated vaccines last week, which is 3.1% lower than the last report.

State of Missouri reports over 2,000 new coronavirus cases

The state of Missouri reported 2,776 new and probable coronavirus cases Tuesday.

The state of Missouri’s daily average of new coronavirus cases has gone back up to a 2,091 seven-day average (14,634 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 2,014 new coronavirus cases through PCR testing and another 762 probable cases identified in antigen testing for Tuesday, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services coronavirus dashboard. Missouri has now reported 784,949 confirmed cases for the pandemic and more than 181,791 probable cases.

The state recorded 92 more confirmed deaths for 12,935 and 26 new probable deaths for 2,922 total.

Missouri's new cases are up 6% over the past week, the state reports, as recent cases surge nationwide.

The rate of positive tests was at 13.4% for the last week.

Cole, Pettis, Callaway, Osage, Moniteau, Miller and Saline counties are all in the top 40 Missouri counties in new cases per capita over the last week, according to state statistics.

The state reports that over 2.32% (a .07 increase from Monday) of vaccinated Missourians have developed COVID-19 infections.

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 53.2% of Missouri residents are fully vaccinated.

COVID-19 hospitalizations are also trending upward, with the state reporting 26% of total hospital capacity and 18% of ICU capacity remaining. Those numbers are at 38% and 33% in Central Missouri, respectively.