COVID vaccine live updates: Here’s what to know in Missouri on Sept. 28

We’re tracking the most up-to-date information about the coronavirus and vaccines in Missouri and the Kansas City area. Check back for updates.

Over 1,100 new COVID cases reported

At least 673,964 people in Missouri have tested positive for the coronavirus, and at least 11,473 have died since March 2020, according to state health officials.

On Tuesday, officials reported an increase of 1,115 cases over the previous day.

There have been 8,303 positive COVID-19 cases over a seven-day period ending Sept. 25, with an average of 1,186 new cases per day, Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services data show. In that same period, there were 43 coronavirus-related deaths.

At least 1,614 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Saturday, the latest day hospitalizations were reported, including 437 patients being treated in intensive care units, health officials said.

As of Tuesday, 9.1% of coronavirus tests were reported positive. Health officials say 5% or lower is the target rate to slow the spread of the virus.

More than 53% of Missouri’s total population has received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, and over 47% have been fully vaccinated.

Homecoming dance leads to COVID outbreak among Kansas City area students

A coronavirus outbreak has been linked to homecoming events at a Kansas City, Kansas, high school earlier this month.

The Unified Government Public Health Department announced in a news release Tuesday that the outbreak originated on Sept. 18 at Piper High School.

Through contact tracing, the health department said they identified eight cases of coronavirus associated with homecoming events.

The health department has also identified “a number” of students who attended classes while infected with the virus after the homecoming dance, according to the release.

Missouri judge rejects AG’s effort to block school mask mandates statewide

A Boone County judge on Tuesday left school mask mandates in Columbia and across Missouri in place, dealing Attorney General Eric Schmitt a setback in his quest to overturn locally-imposed mask rules in school districts and the state’s larger municipalities.

After a three-hour hearing, J. Hasbrouck Jacobs, presiding judge of the 13th Judicial Circuit, denied Schmitt’s request to expand the action to sue every school district in the state that has a mask requirement. Columbia Public Schools argued that including multiple districts as defendants would require Jacobs to broadly rule on COVID-19 mitigation measures put in place under separate local circumstances.

“The mask requirements that different districts put into place are all individualized to that district,” said Grant Wiens, a private attorney representing the district.

Schmitt, a Republican who is running for U.S. Senate, sued Columbia schools in August, calling its mask directive “arbitrary and capricious.”

Average of COVID-19 cases in KC metro below 400 for first time in two months

The rolling average for new COVID-19 cases in the Kansas City metropolitan area fell below 400 for the first time in more than two months.

On Tuesday, the area encompassing Kansas City and Jackson, Clay and Platte counties in Missouri and Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas, gained 318 new cases for a total of 194,503 to date.

The seven-day rolling average for daily cases declined to 399, according to data tracked by The Star. One week ago, the average was 477. Two weeks ago, it was 513. The last time the average was below 400 was July 24.

COVID leads to food shortages for KC area schools

With the COVID-19 pandemic throttling the food supply chain, many schools in the Kansas City area have less food and fewer menu options for their students.

To make matters worse, grocery stores and restaurants are being prioritized by many food distributors, as they are more lucrative customers, according to school officials.

Grennan Sims, Hickman Hills school district’s director of nutrition services, told The Kansas City Star that he has been making phone calls for weeks to distributors all around the area to scrape together enough food to feed his students. It’s a constant struggle, and earlier this month, the district went an entire week without receiving any food shipments.

“Businesses are in a really tough position to make a decision for the viability of their company. On the retail side, there’s a much higher profit margin. In schools, there’s a high volume with a low profit margin,” Sims said. “So they’re having to decide where’s the best bang for my buck. The sad part is now there are kids potentially suffering because of that.”

This story was originally published September 28, 2021 at 7:06 AM with the headline "COVID vaccine live updates: Here’s what to know in Missouri on Sept. 28."