ST. LOUIS — COVID-19 numbers in the St. Louis area continue to rise.
St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force held a briefing Monday afternoon. Dr. Alex Garza - head of the task force - said the area continues to head in the wrong direction.
The prevalence of reported cases is the 14-day rolling sum of new cases per 1,000 population. Dr. Garza said it’s 9.7 per 1,000 people right now, which he said is about one out of every 100 people within the community is likely COVID-19 positive.
"Now, I'm sorry to say that things have only gotten predictably worse since our Friday briefing. COVID-19 is spreading much too quickly and sending far too many people to our hospitals and intensive care units. We are now at a tipping point. The actions that we take today will determine what the next weeks and months will look like," Dr. Garza said.
"Every day, more people are getting sick enough from COVID that they need care in our hospitals, our daily admissions number today is at 109. Seven-day average is higher than it has ever been, as we see every day and continues to jump quickly," Dr. Garza said.
Dr. Garza also stressed the importance of face masks.
"Masks are really the best tool that we have to stop the spread of the virus if we all wore masks. More businesses could stay open. Kids would miss fewer days of in-person school and fewer Missourians would have to be hospitalized with the virus. Now, Missourians need to hear this message loud and clear from the governor. If you've been watching the news, you probably know that we are one of only a handful of states now without a massive mandate," Dr. Garza said.
He reiterated that the task force asked Missouri Governor Mike Parson to take additional steps to help prevent the virus and deaths in the state.
On Friday, the task force also called for a statewide mask mandate and a "safer at home" policy which would call on state residents to remain home unless they are going to work, school or other "essential" activities.
The following data are the combined figures from the four major health systems (BJC HealthCare, Mercy, SSM Health, St. Luke’s Hospital) that are part of the task force, for Nov. 16.
- New hospital admissions (data lagged two days) increased – from 108* yesterday to 109 today.
- The seven-day moving average of hospital admissions (data lagged two days) increased from 108* yesterday to 120* today, a new seven-day moving average record.
- The seven-day moving average of hospitalizations increased – from 677 yesterday to 707 today, a new seven-day moving average record.
- Inpatient confirmed COVID positive hospitalizations increased – from 718 yesterday to 809 today.
- Inpatient suspected COVID positive hospitalizations decreased – from 119 yesterday to 88 today.
- The number of confirmed COVID positive patients in the ICUs increased – from 155 yesterday to 162 today.
- The number of confirmed COVID positive patients on ventilators increased – from 84 yesterday to 89 today.
- Across the system hospitals, 65 COVID-19 patients were discharged yesterday, bringing the cumulative number of COVID-19 patients discharged to 9,105.
• Due to a surge in COVID patients, test results have been delayed and data was not accurately updated over the past several days. The following changes were made:
- Nov. 9 admissions went from 82 to 86
- Nov. 10 admissions went from 92 to 116
- Nov. 11 admissions went from 120 to 124 – changing the seven-day moving average from 99 to 100.
- Nov. 12 admissions went from 109 to 121 – changing the seven-day moving average from 101 to 104.
- Nov. 13 admissions went from 125 to 133 – changing the seven-day moving average from 105 to 109.
- Nov. 14 admissions went from 114 to 128 – changing the seven-day moving average from 107 to 113.
- Nov. 15 admissions went from 96 to 111 – changing the seven-day moving average from 108 to 116.
Dr. Garza said the hospitals are quickly running out of space and staff to care for patients.
"I can't stress enough that we are quickly running out of space and staff to care for so many patients, and it's a tragedy that we're barreling towards this dire situation and not doing everything possible to prevent it from getting worse. The choices and changes we make today and this week will determine where we are in the coming weeks and months," he said.
