Local COVID-19 Update (Dec. 30)

Boone County reported three more COVID-19 deaths Tuesday. Health officials say one patient was between 70 and 74 years old, and the other two were older than 80. Boone has reported 56 deaths from the illness. More than half of those have occurred in December.

Active coronavirus cases in Boone went up on Tuesday, after 118 new positives. There are now 740 active cases. Hospitalizations went down again, to 124, but are still putting a strain on resources.

Cole County reported another COVID-19 death Tuesday, for a total of 90. There were 59 new cases in Cole.

More from The Associated Press:

Missouri hospitals are beginning to see a glimmer of hope as new cases of COVID-19 decline but the possibility of a post-holiday surge is keeping them on edge. State health officials reported that the rolling seven-day average of cases was 1,816, down from a peak of 4,723 on Nov. 20. Dr. Alex Garza, who leads the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force, described the situation as “encouraging” in a media briefing Monday. But his enthusiasm was tempered. He said a post-holiday surge “could put us right back into those areas where we don’t want to be, where we are stretching our staff way too thin.”