Wednesday marks one year since health officials reported the first COVID-19 cases in Boone County and Cole County.
On March 17, 2020, COVID-19 had officially reached mid-Missouri. One year later, over 23% of Boone County residents and over 21% of Cole County residents have initiated vaccination, according to Missouri's COVID-19 dashboard.
To Ashton Day with the Columbia/ Boone County Department of Public Health & Human Services, Wednesday is a day to remember those who lost their lives to COVID-19 in the county.
"Recognizing that there is a lot of hurt in our community from those losses," Day said. "We take that very seriously."
As of Wednesday morning, 83 Boone County residents and 63 Cole County residents have died because of COVID-19 related causes.
Day also said Wednesday is a time to recognize the lessons learned over the last year.
“Following guidelines is the most important thing you can do, second only to actually getting your vaccine," Day said. "We are finally in a place where our active cases are under 100 and things have been pretty calm in the which is awesome. We want to keep it that way.”
The PHSS reported 12 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours in Boone County, bringing the total number of active cases to 87. Boone County has had a total of 17,706 cases of COVID-19.
There have been a total of 7,687 cases in Cole County. Three new cases were added over the past 24 hours. There have also been 270 cases in long-term care facilities.
In Boone County, health orders shaped the way of life. Health officials signed a mask mandate that went into effect on July 10 and is still in place. In Cole County masks were only ever recommended.