The Jefferson County Health Department has announced two more COVID-19-related deaths – a man in his 80s and a woman in her 90s.
Neither one was from a long-term care facility, according to the Health Department.
“Our community has lost two more beautiful souls to this virus,” Health Department Director Kelley Vollmar said. “How many more will it take to change the hearts and minds of our community? The enormous strain the COVID illness has placed on our healthcare system is not only reflected in the number of deaths that are attributed to COVID but also in those who would have been prevented if healthcare resources were not overrun by a preventable illness.”
With the two additional deaths, the county has had a total of 96 COVID-19 deaths since the pandemic began. Of those deaths, 55 have been from long-term care facilities.
County COVID stats
The Health Department also reported 240 more COVID-19 cases today (Nov. 18), bringing the total number of cases in the county to 9,717 since the first ones were reported in March, according to the Health Department.
The county currently has 3,482 active cases, the highest number of active cases so far, the Health Department reported.
Of the 9,717 cases in the county, 8,941 are lab confirmed and 776 are probable cases. A case is considered probable when a person has been exposed to a positive case and is exhibiting symptoms, the Health Department reported.
As of midnight Tuesday (Nov. 17), 1,503 people were quarantined, which means they had a confirmed exposure to the virus and were in the process of completing a 14-day quarantine period.
A total of 6,118 people had been released from isolation, according to the Health Department.
Of the county’s total coronavirus cases, 824 have been at long-term care facilities, which includes residents and staff members who live in Jefferson County.
The county has had at least 23 COVID-19 outbreaks in long-term care facilities, according to the Health Department.
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) defines an outbreak as one or more residents testing positive for the virus or one or more staff members who have worked within a facility in the 14 days before testing positive.
Color status
The county remains at the red level on the Health Department’s COVID-19 warning system.
Red is the highest level on the four-color system and indicates widespread and uncontrolled transmission of the virus.
Several factors are evaluated when determining the color level, including Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and White House Pandemic Task Force guidelines. However, the main indicator is the seven-day rolling average. If the county has a rolling average of 25 or more cases per day per 100,000 residents, it is moved to the red level.
From the period from Nov. 8 to Nov. 14, the seven-day rolling average of cases in the county was 95.05 per day per 100,000 people in the county, which has a population of about 225,000.
That is the highest rolling average the county has seen since the first COVID-19 cases were reported in March, according to the Health Department.
Health Department officials stress the importance of taking steps to prevent the spread of the virus, including avoiding crowds, social distancing, wearing face masks in public, good hand washing and staying home if you are sick.
Officials say they are especially worried about the spread of the virus over the upcoming holiday season, when people tend to gather with family and friends. Those kinds of gatherings, the Health Department has warned, can lead to the spread of COVID-19, which is particularly dangerous for older people and those with pre-existing health conditions.
State, U.S. stats
Missouri has had 253,473 positive cases of the coronavirus and 3,477 deaths related to the disease, the DHSS reported today.
The CDC reported the U.S. has had 11,300,635 cases, and a total of 247,834 coronavirus-related deaths, as of today.
Anyone who shows coronavirus symptoms or who has questions should call the Missouri State Hotline at 877-435-8411 or the Mercy Clinical Support Line at 314-251-0500. For more information about COVID-19, visit jeffcohealth.org/coronavirus-covid19.
