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More Young People Contracting COVID-19 In Boone County

Young people in Boone County are increasingly contracting COVID-19 more than other age groups, worrying health officials since that segment of the population is sometimes asymptomatic yet can easily infect more vulnerable populations.

The Health Department reported that people under 30 years old account for 52% of the county’s cases. In its Monday news release, the Columbia/Boone County Public Health and Human Services Department said the 20-24 age group has seen the highest number of total cases across all age groups. Most people in the 20-24 group contracted COVID-19 via contact with a confirmed case.

“This increase is alarming to us because we worry about younger cases with no or slight symptoms who, because they don’t even realize they are carrying the virus, may unknowingly infect others,” Scott Clardy, assistant director for the Health Department, wrote in an email to the Missourian.

Clardy wrote that young people with COVID-19 are more often asymptomatic compared to older people and that sometimes symptoms are so mild the individual may not realize those symptoms are related to COVID-19.

To read more, visit our partners at the Columbia Missourian.