Local COVID-19 cases decline for second week
New Cases
MARYVILLE, Mo. — As of Dec. 21, the most recent data available from the Nodaway County Health Department, there were 106 active cases of COVID-19, down from the peak of 227 reached on Dec. 3, according to the online Nodaway County COVID-19 dashboard maintained by Northwest Missouri State University.
The active case count has declined significantly over the last two weeks after regularly topping 200 in the early part of the month and into November.
In the most recent report, six were hospitalized, continuing a trend of high hospitalizations over the past two months, and 37 have died since counting began last spring.
Local health officials have continued to stress the importance of mitigation measures in stopping the spread of COVID-19 and stopping those who catch it from suffering its worst effects, especially by getting vaccinated, which studies have shown help to guard against the most severe effects of COVID-19.
New dashboard
Northwest Institutional Research at Northwest has moved its online COVID-19 data-tracking dashboards to a new location with added functionality.
The Nodaway County dashboard is now located at tabsoft.co/3DWhq7F.
The dashboard with university-specific information is now located at tabsoft.co/32uZ3Kc.
Variants
According to the Sewershed Surveillance Project, a joint effort by the University of Missouri and the Missouri Department of Health and Human Services in partnership with local municipalities that tracks viral loads in sewersheds across the state, the delta variant remained the dominant type of the virus found in Nodaway County as of Dec. 6, the most recent data available.
However, the omicron variant was detected in the St. Joseph and Kansas City areas during that same monitoring period.
More data from the project is available at arcg.is/1P9bPz0.
Vaccinations
Individuals ages 5 and up are now eligible to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now recommends all adults ages 18 and older should receive a booster shot for COVID-19, regardless of which vaccine an individual first received.
Those who received a Pfizer or Moderna vaccination series initially will become eligible six months after the final dose, and Johnson & Johnson recipients are eligible two months after receiving their shot.
As of Dec. 21, a total of 11,314 Nodaway County residents have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, or about 53.3 percent, according to the CDC’s online vaccination dashboard. About 48 percent of county residents — 10,195 — have been fully vaccinated.
Missouri overall is at about 52.5 percent fully vaccinated, and about 61.6 percent have received at least one dose. Across the country, the CDC estimates 61.7 percent of Americans have been fully vaccinated, and 72.8 percent have received at least one dose.
Contact the Nodaway County Health Department at 660-562-2755 to make an appointment for vaccination or for more information.
