COLUMBIA, Missouri (KMIZ.)

As the holiday season approaches, the increase in COVID-19 cases in a few counties in Missouri is also increasing.

The Department of Health reports that in Boone County there were 101 new cases of COVID-19 this weekend and 43 new cases on Monday. That makes 334 active cases in the county.

“This was the highest number we’ve had in a little while, so of course we’ll continue to track those numbers,” said Sara Humm, spokesperson for the county public health and social services department. by Columbia / Boone.

Experts say the cold is not the only factor contributing to the increase in cases.

“I think we have to look at the time change as a factor, you know it’s dark earlier and again people are going to be spending more time indoors than outdoors because now it’s dark. It gets dark at 5:30 am, ”said epidemiologist Nathan Kofarnus.

In Cole County, cases are also on the rise. The Department of Health is reporting 35 new cases this weekend and 34 new cases on Monday.

This increases the county by 15.1% from the previous week. This means that there have been around 15 new positive cases of COVID.

Kristi Campbell of the Cole County Health Department said: “We’ll probably see a slight increase in the winter… hopefully, due to community immunity and vaccine status, the peaks we’ll see will be less than the ones we saw last November. “

Although vaccinated people are multiplying around Missouri, the risk of catching COVID is still quite high.

In the past 7 days, there have been six thousand seven hundred and sixty new cases of COVID in Missouri.

“Now more time is spent indoors near other people and so it certainly offers more opportunities for person-to-person spread and transmission in those close indoor neighborhoods,” Kofarnus said.

Boone County currently ranks eighth in the state with the most coronavirus cases over the past week, and Cole County ranks 26th in the state for counties with the most coronavirus per hundred thousand over the past week.

As the holiday season approaches, health officials are urging the community to take precautions, especially around the elderly and those with pre-existing health conditions.