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New COVID-19 cases slowed in most of St. Louis area as new hospitalizations continue to decrease, task force says

On Sunday, the task force reported the fewest number of hospitalizations in task force hospitals on a single day since July 19

ST. LOUIS — The leader of the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force said hospital numbers continued to improve over the weekend, and most of the counties in the area saw fewer new COVID-19 cases than the previous week.

Dr. Alex Garza, the incident commander of the task force, said the St. Louis area had a "great" weekend when it came to admissions data.

On Monday, the task force reported 20 new COVID-19 admissions, the third consecutive day of fewer than 30 new admissions. As a result, the seven-day average of new admissions dipped to 33, the lowest average since Sept. 25.

In addition to the decrease in new admissions, most of the counties in the St. Louis area reported fewer new COVID-19 cases in the last seven days when compared to the previous week. 

All the Missouri counties in the St. Louis area other than Lincoln County reported the same or fewer new COVID-19 cases week-over-week. The numbers weren't as good in Illinois, where Monroe, St. Clair and Clinton counties reported more new cases than the previous seven days.

"We've seen some swings in our numbers within the past week, but hopefully we'll continue to see that trend go down," Dr. Garza said.

Although most counties saw week-over-week improvements, Dr. Garza said some counties are still seeing a high number of new cases. 

Dr. Garza said while St. Louis and St. Louis County have continued to limit the spread, other parts of the area have continued to see increases in new cases. As a result, the task force said the area as a whole has a reproductive rate of 0.99. Anything below 1 means the region is interrupting the spread of the virus.

Over the past few weeks, Dr. Alex Garza, the incident commander of the task force, said the St. Louis area is doing a better job of limiting the spread of the coronavirus than other parts of Missouri. On Monday, he said that trend has continued this week. 

The increase in cases across the more rural parts of Missouri resulted in record hospitalizations. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services reported a record seven-day average hospitalizations of 1,163 on Oct. 2. The seven-day average decreased each of the last two days. The state most recently reported a seven-day average of 1,092 hospitalizations.

In the St. Louis area, the seven-day average for hospitalizations decreased steadily before plateauing and increasing slightly over the last few weeks. On Sunday, however, the task force reported the fewest number of hospitalizations in task force hospitals on a single day since July 19.

The number of hospitalizations in the St. Louis area increased on Monday, but the seven-day average of hospitalizations decreased again.

Here is a full breakdown of the task force data from Monday:

  • New hospital admissions (data lagged two days) decreased from 25 yesterday to 20 today.
  • The seven-day moving average of hospital admissions (data lagged two days) decreased – from 35 yesterday to 33 today.
  • The seven-day moving average of hospitalizations decreased – from 263 yesterday to 259 today.
  • Inpatient confirmed COVID positive hospitalizations increased – from 229 yesterday to 245 today.
  • Inpatient suspected COVID positive hospitalizations increased - from 73 yesterday to 108 today.
  • The number of confirmed COVID positive patients in the ICUs remained the same at 71 today.
  • The number of confirmed COVID positive patients on ventilators increased – from 48 yesterday to 49 today.
  • Across the system hospitals, 20 COVID-19 patients were discharged yesterday, bringing the cumulative number of COVID-19 patients discharged to 6,519.

On Monday, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services reported 133,418 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 2,174 deaths, an increase of 987 cases and one death.

The department reported a total of 1,358,668 people who have received a PCR — or polymerase chain reaction — test, an increase of 7,923 in the last 24 hours. The department uses this number to calculate positivity rate, which was 9.7% on Oct. 4.

According to the health department dashboard, the state has reported 13.2% fewer cases over the last seven days when compared to the previous seven days. The department said the number of tests conducted over the last seven days was 15.7% fewer than the previous week, resulting in an increase in the positivity rate. 

The dashboard said the positivity rate over the last seven days was 14.2%, an increase from 13.3% last week. The seven-day positivity average is delayed by 72 hours to ensure accuracy.

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