Despite rising COVID-19 case numbers in Missouri, Columbia and Boone County Public Health and Human Services said Friday that officials haven't had any conversations about bringing a mask mandate back to government buildings. COVID-19 cases are on the rise again in Boone County, hitting a summer-high average of new cases per day on July 1. The rising cases led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to put Boone County in its high-transmission category. Health department planner Sara Humm said bringing back mandates for government buildings hasn't been discussed. However, local government buildings here have not enforced another mask mandate, despite the new ba.4 and ba.5 variants infecting more people, said MU Health Care's Dr. Margaret Day.