As COVID-19 continues to spread, KOMU 8 will continue to educate you about the implications for the community.
Layered bar / line charts showing the daily change in newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported in each province and a 14-day moving average of the changes in new cases are available here.
Previous coverage:
Updates for Wednesday, December 23 will be available below:
5:15 pm: Callaway County reports a drop in the 14-day average
Callaway County added 94 cases in the past 24 hours, making a total of 627 active cases as of Wednesday. There have been a total of 2,964 cases in Callaway County and 2,446 recoveries since the start of the pandemic.
According to the Callaway County COVID-19 dashboard, there are an additional 50 cases in the Callaway County Department of Corrections and nine in Fulton State Hospital.
A total of 28 deaths have occurred in the province since the start of the pandemic.
According to data from the New York Times, with a delay of two days, the average over 14 days in the county is 27.07.
Credit: Covid-19 in Mid-Missouri by Mizzou Journalism
5:15 pm: Cole County adds 43 new cases in the last 24 hours
The Cole County Health Department will now display positive case totals on a daily basis, showing the date the specimen was collected rather than the date the results were received by the health department.
This change causes a delay in the daily totals reported for the current day. The province also no longer reports active or isolated cases.
On Wednesday, there were 6,481 cases in Cole County, up from 43 cases since Friday. There have been 248 cases in long-term care facilities.
Three new positive cases were reported on Wednesday. In the updated chart below, you can see the number of cases added so far based on the date the sample was collected for the month of December.
There have been 46 deaths in Cole County and 43 deaths from COVID-19 in long-term care facilities.
According to data from the New York Times, with a delay of two days, the average over 14 days in the county is 39.20.
Credit: Covid-19 in Mid-Missouri by Mizzou Journalism
4:15 pm: Boone County reports two new deaths, more than 13,000 cases
The Columbia / Boone County Department of Public Health & Human Services reported 146 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of active cases to 883.
Boone County surpassed 13,000 total COVID-19 cases after registering 146 cases today, Dec. 23. We regret to report that 2 COVID-19-related deaths have also been recorded today, out of a total of 52 Boone County community members. pic.twitter.com/UHzdVz4AaB
– Columbia / Boone Co. Public Health & Human Services (@CoMo_HealthDept) December 23, 2020
The province also surpassed 13,000 total COVID-19 cases on Wednesday.
The health department reported two COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday, meaning a total of 52 deaths in the county. One person was in the 65-69 age group and marked the sixth death in that age group. The other person was in the age group 76 to 79 years and marked the seventh death in that age group.
The county reported 142 hospitalizations, 28 of which were residents of Boone County. There are currently 41 COVID-19 patients in the ICU and 14 on a ventilator.
The hospital status is currently yellow.
According to data from the New York Times, which is delayed by two days, the average of 14 days in the county is 114.50.
Credit: Covid-19 in Mid-Missouri by Mizzou Journalism
10:30 am: Boone County Health Department warns of COVID-19 exposure at Columbia Church
The Columbia / Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services is warning Boone County residents of a potential COVID-19 exposure at Open Heart Baptist Church.
Anyone who attended a Christmas party at Open Heart, located at 2519 North Lake of the Woods Road, on Friday, December 18, may have been exposed to the virus.
People attending the event are advised to monitor for symptoms consistent with the virus, including fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, constipation or runny nose, nausea, or diarrhea.
The health department advises anyone who attended to contact their healthcare provider and get tested if they develop symptoms.
9:00 am: Missouri adds 3,141 new COVID-19 cases; weekly COVID-19 death analysis adds 246 deaths
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services reports 3,141 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours. This brings the total number of Missouri cases to 373,580.
The state also reported 97 new deaths in the past 24 hours. This brings the total number of COVID-19-related deaths to 5,255 since the start of the pandemic.
In an email Tuesday night, DHSS said their weekly death certificate analysis resulted in 246 additional COVID-19 deaths added to their dashboard. It also included a breakdown of when the deaths occurred:
- April 1st
- July: 2
- 1 August
- 1st of September
- October: 7
- November: 153
- December: 81
The state is also reporting hospital admissions and hospital bed capacity, but it has a two-day delay. There are a total of 2,703 hospital admissions in the state with a remaining total capacity of 33% hospital beds.
In the past seven days, there were 17,778 positive cases of the virus. The average for the one-day case now stands at 2,540.
Since November 19, DHSS has switched to only report the positivity rate from the CDC method. More than 1.7 million Missouri residents have already been tested by PCR at least once in mid-November. As a result, if they test negative again, they will not be counted in the last 7-day status method positivity rate.
The CDC’s method has a positivity rate of 17.1%.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that positivity rates when tested should remain at 5% or less for at least 14 days.