UPDATED WITH NEW INFORMATION AT 10:10 A.M. 12/28/21

The number of positive COVID-19 cases increased by triple digits in Pettis County over the week before Christmas.

According to Pettis County Health Center officials, as of December 23, there were 8,400 positive cases reported since the beginning of the pandemic as compared to 8,260 on December 20 and 8,071 on December 13. There are 162 active cases in the county.

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services’ website is reporting Pettis County has a positivity rate of 12.1 percent with PCR testing for the past seven days, which is an increase from 11.1 percent for the previous week. The locally-calculated positivity rate for the week of December 15-21 was 12.51 percent. Last week, there were 743 PCR tests and 496 antigen tests for a total of 1,239. The previous week there were 1,426 tests.

Vaccine breakthrough rates for the week of December 20-26 were 34 out of 165 cases for a rate of 20.6 percent. Breakthrough cases are persons who have tested positive for the virus after being fully vaccinated- their last shot being at least two weeks prior to testing positive. The breakthrough cases break down as: 19 Pfizer; 12 Moderna; and three J&J.

A total of seven positive cases had received boosters and four were partially vaccinated.

There are 20 individuals hospitalized at Bothwell as compared to 12 last week. There are two patients on a ventilator. Five of the 20 patients are vaccinated.