UPDATE 10:20 PM: SSM Health has eased its restrictions on visitors to its hospital in Mexico.
Starting Monday, patients without COVID-19 are allowed one visitor at a time during designated hours. Visitors must be 16 years or older.
Exceptions can be made for end of life situations.
Visitors must enter the emergency room between 8 am and 8 pm and undergo an examination, cover their faces, stay in the patient’s room or waiting area, and follow the guidelines for hand hygiene and social distancing. .
UPDATE 9:55 PM: Fitzgibbon Hospital in Marshall will no longer conduct COVID-19 tests without a doctor’s order.
“Due to a shortage of testing supplies across the country, we can only provide COVID-19 testing to people with a medical order,” the hospital said in a Facebook post on Monday. “If you have symptoms or have a qualified exposure to COVID-19 as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, talk to your primary care provider to see if a COVID-19 test is necessary.”
The tests will now be conducted Monday through Friday from 6 am to 8 pm, the hospital said.
Saline County, where Marshall is located, reported 20 new COVID-19 cases over the weekend totaling 352 and added 17 active cases. Five people have died from the new coronavirus in the county, most of any county in Mid-Missouri.
UPDATE 6:10 PM: Several Mid-Missouri counties reported large increases in their COVID-19 cases on Monday.
Cole County, which reported 15 new cases on Sunday to set its daily record, reported only two new cases on Monday. The number of active cases decreased four and now stands at 52.
Pettis County reported 18 more cases from Friday to 172. The county collected 14 active cases, reporting 49.
Saline County experienced similar increases, with a total of cases up to 20 to reach 352 and active cases increased by 17 to reach 64.
Audrain County reported 10 new cases, with a total of 159 with 20 assets.
Miller County reported seven new cases Monday and two new active cases. Those numbers are now 40 and 18.
Howard, Chariton and Osage counties each reported two new cases over the weekend.
UPDATE 4:50 PM.: Boone County reported its third death from COVID-19 on Monday.
The Columbia / Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services reported the death in a press release, saying the virus killed a county resident between the ages of 45 and 49.
The county also reported nine new cases Monday, with a total of 764. Three cases reported Saturday were reassigned to another county, according to the statement. The subtraction left Saturday’s new cases at 53, which is still a record daily increase for Boone County.
The number of active cases decreased by nine to 318. The health department’s online information center showed that 539 close contacts of confirmed cases were in quarantine on Monday.
Cases continue to increase in Boone County. The county registered 249 new cases in just six days between Monday and Sunday. More than 54 percent of COVID-19 cases in Boone County are from contact with known cases.
Each case has about 2.4 close contacts, health officials said.
Health officials reported 27 COVID-19 patients at Boone County hospitals, a number that has been steadily increasing in recent weeks. Of these, nine are in the ICU and three in ventilators.
The health department said in the statement that it instructed close contacts of confirmed cases to quarantine for 14 days. However, the workload is overwhelming health department workers, making it harder to monitor those people and increasing the chance that they will spread the new coronavirus.
“Due to the increase in cases, the ability to trace contacts may limit the ability to keep quarantined contacts throughout the 14-day period,” the press release says. “The contacts may return to work or go out in public before they are authorized to do so. Even if the contacts show no symptoms, they could still be infectious.”
The department is also talking to companies to make sure they follow protocol to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Home sales recover in June
Home sales rebounded in June after a disappointing April and May dragged down by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Columbia Board of Realtors said single-family home sales increased 12 percent in June compared to June 2019. The increase marked a rebound from May’s 21 percent decline from the previous year.
However, the housing inventory still lags behind, the board said in announcing the June figures. New listings are increasing, but the hole left earlier in the pandemic was so deep that inventories remain low when the jump in sales is taken into account. According to the board, the number of months of home inventory fell to 1.25, 48 percent less than last year.
The average sale price of $ 248,748 is a 6 percent increase over last year and the average sale price of $ 226,900 represents an 8 percent increase.
For the second quarter of the year, sales ended 5 percent less compared to the same quarter last year. However, the sale price rose 6 percent.
UPDATE 2:25 PM: Missouri reported 447 new cases of COVID-19, well below the record reported last week.
The new cases have totaled since the pandemic began at 27,890. The state Department of Health and Senior Services said 14 additional deaths were reported Monday, bringing the state total to 1,083.
The state reported 472 new cases on Saturday and 310 on Sunday.
The record of 795 cases was set last Thursday. The state then recorded 662 new cases on the Friday before the weekend’s decline.
State health authorities reported that about 496,000 people were screened for live coronaviruses, with 5.5 percent positive.
The state reported that 888 people were hospitalized as of Thursday, the latest available number, according to state information center COVID-19. The state reports hospital numbers with a 72-hour delay and had not updated the number on Monday.
That number is approximately 100 less than the peak of early May for hospitalizations and well above levels for much of May and June, when hospitalizations hovered in the 600 area and state officials touted record lows.
Among Mid-Missouri counties reporting big increases in cases, Monday was Audrain. The health department reported 10 additional cases since Saturday to reach 159 total and 20 active cases.
UPDATE 11:30 AM: At least three Mid-Missouri counties confirmed new cases of COVID-19 on Monday.
The health departments of Howard, Chariton and Osage counties posted on Facebook about the increase in coronavirus cases.
Howard County health officials said two county residents recently tested positive. According to a Monday morning message, the county had three active cases.
Health officials have confirmed eight cases of COVID-19 in the county since the pandemic began.
The Chariton County Health Center and the Osage County Health Department were also notified of two new COVID-19 cases in each county.
The health center said it is working with the state health department on tracking contacts. Health workers said Chariton County confirmed eight cases of COVID-19, two of which were active.
New cases in Osage County raised active cases to eight and total cases to 15, according to a social media post.
The Osage County Emergency Management Agency said people who tested positive and any recent contacts were notified Sunday.
ORIGINAL: A new COVID-19 test site will open Monday morning in Columbia.
MU Health Care will open a test drive site at Mizzou North in the Business Loop at 8 am. It will be open until 7 pm Monday through Friday, and again from 8 am to noon on Saturdays.
In a press release, MU Health Care said it is opening the new site to help with an increase in the number of people being screened.
At its site near the Mizzou softball stadium, MU Health Care said it evaluated an average of 650 patients per day the week of July 6, leaving people waiting several hours to get tested.
That number was more than double the number of tests in the previous week.
Patients with negative results will also no longer receive a phone call, MU Health Care said. Instead, they can verify their results online within 72 hours. Anyone who tests positive will continue to receive a phone call within 24-48 hours.
