Rural areas of Mid-Missouri enter COVID-19 ‘red zone’
MONITEAU, Mo. (KMIZ)
Several rural counties in Mid-Missouri are now in the "red zone" for COVID-19 case rates in the latest White House report.
However, Columbia and Boone County moved to the "yellow zone," meaning those area are showing slower rates of case growth.
According to the White House report, 52 counties in Missouri were in the red zone as of Sunday. The report lists several Mid-Missouri cities and counties as in the red zone: the cities of Jefferson City, Rolla, Moberly and Ft. Leonard Wood and the counties of Cole, Camden, Callaway, Phelps, Miller, Pulaski, Randolph, Moniteau, Osage and Maries.
In Moniteau County, the California School District has several COVID-19 cases among students and teachers. This has led to more than 100 close contacts who have been asked to quarantine.
The Superintendent of California Schools, Dwight Sanders, sent a letter to families Wednesday afternoon.
"The districts goal remains to keep all students and staff safe while moving forward with face to face instruction utilizing the safety protocols that were in place with our re-entry plan," he said.
The environmentalist for the Moniteau County Health Department, Darrell Hendrickson, said they are focusing on contact tracing and education.
"We are trying to respond to the influx of cases by continuing our education strategies that we have been doing since March, as well as trying to streamline our contact tracing efforts," he said.
As of Tuesday, Moniteau County reported 321 total cases, 42 active cases, four deaths and 19 hospitalizations.
"I want to encourage people to continue making wise choices, it's really in their hands to social distance, to be smart about where you are going," Hendrickson said. "People need to do the right thing to protect themselves and others."
Cole County is also in the red zone. As of Tuesday Cole County had 1,378 total COVID-19 cases, 111 active cases outside nursing homes and 14 deaths.
The report said areas in the red and orange zones with high levels of transmission should use case numbers to determine in-person or online school, capacity for bars and restaurants and get more outdoor dining options if possible.
It also recommends universities in these zones increase testing to find and quarantine COVID-19 cases on-campus as quickly as possible, to stop the spread throughout the community.
The report states Missouri had 179 new cases per 100,000 population in the last week, compared to a national average of 86 per 100,000.
