ST. LOUIS — COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths have continued to fall in the St. Louis area in the wake of the omicron surge.
As of Tuesday, there were 105 COVID-19 patients in St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force hospitals, the lowest number since June of 2021, and among the lowest since the beginning of the pandemic. The task force is also reporting the lowest death rates since last summer.
On Wednesday, the leaders of the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force looked ahead at the next phases of the pandemic, and what we can do to prevent the next wave from having the same impact omicron did.
"It's within our power to make this next wave less severe and to prevent a variant from disrupting our lives again," said Dr. Clay Dunagan.
Dr. Dunagan said people should be enjoying the progress by returning to some normal activities but should also consider some preventative steps.
As in other stages of the pandemic, he suggested getting vaccinated and boosted as the best way to protect against the current iteration of COVID-19 and any future variants.
"So far, no matter what variants have emerged, the vaccines have produced good protection," he said.
Dr. Dunagan said many of the people who were the first to receive the COVID-19 vaccine are eligible for a booster and should consider that additional dose. He also said booster uptake in the region is relatively low.
"When we look at those numbers, we become concerned that a new variant will combine with decreasing immunity in our most at-risk population," he said. "And that could really spell trouble, trouble that we could avoid with a booster dose."
In addition to vaccination, Dr. Dunagan said people should consider their own personal risk when making decisions about other mitigation efforts. He said at-risk people should consider practicing things like masking and avoiding large gatherings. He said people who aren't at-risk but spend time with those that are should consider those mitigation efforts as well.
The next phase of the pandemic may already be underway in places like Europe, where cases are rising again. Dr. Dunagan said it is due in part to a new sub-variant called BA.2.
"We've seen this pattern before," Dr. Dunagan said, "and that's really the nature of the pandemic. We're going to see rises and falls as the virus changes and becomes transmissible."
Dr. Dunagan said early data has shown that BA.2 is about 50% more transmissible than the original omicron variant.
Dr. Dunagan said taking steps to protect against future variants like this one is important because of the unknowns involved.
"We can't predict exactly if, when or how this is going to happen, and we can't tell how it will affect hospitalizations, which is a key data point," he said. "But we certainly could see a rise in cases but not a significant rise in hospitalizations because of a rise in population immunity."
Dr. Alex Garza concluded the briefing by saying data updates would be moved to twice per week, with briefings being held whenever they are deemed necessary. He thanked the community for staying informed and doing its part to slow the spread of the virus.
"Our community has worked incredibly hard to bring COVID under control, and there's no doubt that the sacrifices we have all made have helped save lives, and help bring us to this moment of relative calm," Dr. Garza said. "So on behalf of the task force, we want to thank everyone for everything they have done."
The data for March 22, 2022.
- New hospital admissions (data lagged two days) decreased – from 19 Monday to 15 Tuesday.
- The seven-day moving average of hospital admissions (data lagged two days) remained the same at 21.
- The seven-day moving average of hospitalizations decreased –from 117 Monday to 113 Tuesday.
- Inpatient confirmed COVID-positive hospitalizations increased - from 104 Monday to 105 Tuesday.
- Inpatient suspected COVID-positive hospitalizations decreased - from 16 Monday to 15 Tuesday.
- The number of confirmed COVID-positive patients in the ICU increased – from 17 Monday to 23 Tuesday.
- The number of confirmed COVID-positive patients on ventilators increased – from 14 Monday to 17 Tuesday.
- Two COVID deaths were reported Tuesday
- The seven-day moving average of COVID deaths increased from 2 for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday to 3 on Tuesday.
- Across the system hospitals, 23 patients were discharged Tuesday bringing the cumulative number of COVID-19 patients discharged to 41,898.
- Of the 105 hospitalized COVID patients in the three reporting Task Force hospital systems Tuesday – 34 are fully vaccinated. That’s 32% of the patient population.
- There are 3 COVID-positive children who are 0-11 years of age in Task Force hospitals.
- There is 1 COVID-positive child who is 12-18 years of age in Task Force hospitals.
- There are 0 COVID-positive children who are 0-11 years of age and in the ICU.
- There are 0 COVID-positive children who are 12-18 years of age and in the ICU.