ST. LOUIS — Dr. Alexander Garza - head of the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task force - said the St. Louis area is seeing an average of 22 deaths per day related to COVID-19.
"On average, 22 deaths a day means that we're losing 22 members of our community who we can't get back. Twenty-two more families are going to be grieving a loved one this holiday season," Dr. Garza said during Wednesday's briefing.
A nurse from St. Luke's spoke at Wednesday's briefing.
"The biggest reason I'm here today is to just beg everyone to take a step back. I know just as well as everybody else that 2020 has been one of the worst years ever. I don't think anybody has ever experienced the kind of things we've experienced in this year," Deena Hagen said.
Hagen expressed the impact it could have if you attend a large gathering for the holidays. She urged everyone to take a moment to think about what they're doing before attending a gathering.
"Think about the impact it could have on you or your loved one. Just wear a mask. You can do these things once the pandemic is over. But if you take this virus home to a loved one who doesn't make it through, they're not going to be there next year for the holidays. And that is the most sombering fact we have right now," Hagen said.
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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 Dec. 9.
- New hospital admissions (data lagged two days) increased from 104 yesterday to 147 today.
- The seven-day moving average of hospital admissions (data lagged two days) increased - from 113 yesterday to 116 today.
- The seven-day moving average of hospitalizations decreased from 895 yesterday to 889 today.
- Inpatient confirmed COVID positive hospitalizations decreased – from 911 yesterday to 887 today.
- Inpatient suspected COVID positive hospitalizations decreased – from 108 yesterday to 76 today.
- The number of confirmed COVID positive patients in the ICUs increased – from 189 yesterday to 194 today.
- The number of confirmed COVID positive patients on ventilators increased – from 118 yesterday to 123 today.
- The number of COVID deaths increased – from 16 yesterday to 28 today.
- The seven-day moving average of COVID deaths increased – from 21 yesterday to 22 today.
- Across the system hospitals, 162 COVID-19 patients were discharged to home yesterday, bringing the cumulative number of COVID-19 patients discharged to 11,976.
- Today, staffed bed hospital capacity is at 83%, an average across our task force hospitals. The ICUs are at 89% of their total staffed bed capacity.
In Missouri, 28 more people have died due COVID-19 related complications.
The state health department on Wednesday cited the additional deaths that bring the total since the start of the pandemic to 4,383. The state also announced 2,640 additional confirmed cases. The state has reported 330,846 confirmed cases since the onset of the pandemic.
The state said intensive care unit bed space is at 19% statewide. ICU space is at 6% in southwestern Missouri, 14% in northeast Missouri, and 18% in St. Louis.
The statewide positivity rate of 19.1% is down slightly from last week but still nearly four times higher than the 5% benchmark set by the World Health Organization.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.