COLUMBIA, Mo. — As the first week of the fall semester came to a close, the number of positive COVID-19 cases among the University of Missouri student body passed the 300 mark on Friday — the same day Columbia announced new measures to slow the spread of the virus.
Cases have started spiking in Boone County since students moved back to Mizzou earlier this month, with the county’s seven-day positivity rate climbing from 10.6 percent on Aug. 20 to 44.6 percent this week, nearly four times the state's positivity rate of 12.3 percent.
Boone County reported 81 new positive cases on Friday, including 51 from the 18- to 22-year-old age range.