ST. LOUIS — The number of COVID-19 patients in St. Louis area hospitals is at the lowest point in months, but the leader of the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force said people need to continue to get vaccinated and mask up in certain situations.
The briefing comes as the number of hospitalizations continued to decrease for the last month. As of Tuesday, the seven-day average of hospitalizations was at 358, the lowest since July 30.
Those downward trends have come even as less than half of the people in the St. Louis area have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, which is below the national average of 56%. Dr. Clay Dunagan, the leader of the task force, said decreasing hospitalization rates are not a reason to put off vaccinations.
He said the hospital data provides one of the most compelling arguments for people to get vaccinated.
"With vaccination rates that are about 50%, we would expect that, in the hospital, if vaccinations made no difference, we'd see the same number of people with and without vaccinations," he said. "That's definitely not what we see."
Dr. Dunagan said 80% of the hospitalized COVID patients are not fully vaccinated. He said most of the 20% that are fully vaccinated have underlying medical conditions that make COVID-19 harder for them to handle.
Even with the reduction in the number of COVID-19 patients, hospitals in the area remain near capacity. Tuesday’s staffed bed hospital capacity across task force hospitals is at 87%. The ICU’s are at 80% of their total staffed bed capacity. Dr. Dunagan said that is because hospitals are still trying to play catch-up with patients that put medical procedures on hold over the last 18 months.
He said an increased level of vaccination in the community will reduce the risk of COVID-19 exposure for those who can't get vaccinated yet and for whom vaccines do not provide enough protection.
"For that 20% that do end up in the hospital despite being vaccinated, if a larger proportion of the population was vaccinated, they might not be exposed," said Dr. Dunagan.
Dr. Dunagan said he expects another population group to be eligible for the vaccine in the near future. He said he expects the CDC to provide emergency use authorization for the COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11 in early November.
Dr. Dunagan said mask mandates are an effective way to provide protection to people while vaccination rates climb slowly. He said evidence shows mandates are effective in increasing masking in areas where people might otherwise be resistant. He said the use of masks reduces transmission and should be a key tool in certain circumstances.
"Wearing a mask in situations where people have unknown immunization status, or when you're in close contact with others for extended periods remains a very prudent thing to do," Dr. Dunagan said.
The data for October 5, 2021 is as follows:
- New hospital admissions (data lagged two days) decreased – from 45 Monday to 31 Tuesday.
- The seven-day moving average of hospital admissions (data lagged two days) decreased - from 54 Monday to 52 Tuesday.
- The seven-day moving average of hospitalizations decreased – from 364 Monday to 358 Tuesday.
- Inpatient confirmed COVID-positive hospitalizations decreased – from 368 Monday to 354 Tuesday.
- Inpatient suspected COVID-positive hospitalizations decreased – from 42 Monday to 38 Tuesday.
- The number of confirmed COVID-positive patients in the ICUs increased - from 107 Monday to 110 Tuesday.
- The number of confirmed COVID-positive patients on ventilators decreased - from 83 Monday to 76 Tuesday.
- 7 COVID deaths are being reported Tuesday. 4 were reported Monday.
- The seven-day moving average of COVID deaths increased – from 6 Monday to 7 Tuesday.
- Across the system hospitals, 65 patients were discharged Monday, 29 on Monday bringing the cumulative number of COVID-19 patients discharged to 28,638.
- Of the 334 hospitalized COVID patients in the three reporting Task Force hospitals Tuesday – 68 are fully vaccinated. That’s 20% of the patient population.
- There are 8 COVID-positive children who are 0-11 years of age in Task Force hospitals.
- There are 6 COVID-positive children who are 12-18 years of age in Task Force hospitals.
- There are 2 COVID-positive children who are 0-11 years of age and in the ICU.
- There are 2 COVID-positive children who are 12-18 years of age and in the ICU.
- Tuesday’s staffed bed hospital capacity is at 87% an average across our task force hospitals. The ICU’s are at 80% of their total staffed bed capacity.