The Jefferson County Health Department reported 28 new confirmed COVID-19 cases today (June 24), with 23 of those at long-term care facilities.
That brings the total number of cases in the county to 501 since the first ones were reported in March.
“Our large increase in new cases reported today is partly due to facility-wide testing at a long-term care facility,” Jefferson County Health Department Director Kelley Vollmar said in a written statement this evening.
The Health Department did not report which long-term care facility had the 23 new cases.
“Our team has been working with this facility to ensure health and safety for residents and staff. I feel confident they are doing their best to stop the spread in their facility,” Vollmar said.
Of the county’s 501 total cases, 451 are lab-confirmed cases and 50 are probable cases, according to the Health Department.
In addition, 58 of the county’s total cases are currently open, or active, ones, the Health Department reported today.
Active cases are the number of positive cases excluding COVID-19 deaths and those patients who have been released from isolation.
The Health Department reported that the county has had 21 COVID-19 deaths, and 422 people have been released from isolation, which means they recovered enough to be released from case management, according to the Health Department.
Vollmar said Tuesday (June 23) in a Facebook Live video that increased social activity since the state and county have reopened has led to new cases, which have been on the rise over the past week or so.
She said it takes about two weeks from the time someone contracts the virus to show up as positive cases reported by the Health Department.
Vollmar urges residents to pay attention to the Health Department’s system that warns about the level of threat to the community from COVID-19 at any given time. The system uses a green, yellow or red guidance status to indicate the level of threat.
Currently the county is at the yellow guidance status, which means people should continue taking preventive steps to curb the spread of the disease, like social distancing, wearing a mask in public, frequently washing your hands, staying home when you are sick, and covering your cough and sneeze.
The system also has a green level, which is less restrictive, and a red level, which would have more restrictions in place.
For more information about the system, go to jeffcohealth.org.
County coronavirus stats
The Health Department also reported today that 55 county residents have been hospitalized due to the coronavirus.
In addition, the Health Department reported today that 15 of the county’s cases were transmitted through travel, 280 were from contact and 206 are unknown.
According to the Health Department, 201 of the county’s coronavirus cases have been men, 293 cases women and seven unknown cases.
The confirmed COVID-19 cases in the county include three people younger than nine, 11 people 10 to 19 years old, 53 people 20-29 years old, 71 people 30-39 years old, 68 people 40-49 years old, 100 people 50-59 years old, 92 people 60-69 years old, 49 people 70-79 years old, 48 people in their 80s or older and six unknown.
The Health Department also reported that cases in the county have been reported for the following ZIP codes: 73 cases and 64 recovered cases in 63010 (Arnold), 19 cases and 18 recovered cases in 63012 (Barnhart), 28 cases and 22 recovered cases in 63016 (Cedar Hill), 11 cases and nine recovered cases in 63019 (Crystal City), 35 cases and 28 recovered cases in 63020 (De Soto), seven cases and six recovered case in 63023 (Dittmer), six cases and five recovered cases in 63025 (Eureka), 68 cases and 40 recovered cases in 63026 (Fenton), 116 cases and 102 recovered cases in 63028 (Festus), one case and one recovered case in 63047 (Hematite), four cases and three recovered in 63048 (Herculaneum), 24 cases and 19 recovered cases in 63049 (High Ridge), 16 cases and 11 recovered cases in 63050 (Hillsboro), 25 cases and 24 recovered cases in 63051 (House Springs), 44 cases and 30 recovered cases in 63052 (Imperial), one case and one recovered case in 63069 (Pacific) and 14 cases and 12 recovered cases in 63070 (Pevely). Information is not available for nine cases.
In addition, the Health Department reported today that it has monitored a total of 827 cases, and of those, 213 are still actively being monitored and another 614 have been released from monitoring.
Brianne Zwiener, communications specialist with the Health Department, said a person who is being actively monitored has been in contact with a positive case, but is not showing symptoms.
She said people who are actively monitored are quarantined to their homes and must take their temperature twice a day for 14 days.
Long-term care facilities
Of the county’s total cases of the coronavirus, 187 have been at long-term care facilities, which includes residents and staff members who live inside Jefferson County.
While the total number of cases at long-term care facilities appears to have risen by 29 cases since Tuesday’s Health Department report, six of the cases previously were reported in the county total but not in the long-term care facility total, so only 23 of the cases added since Tuesday are new, Zwiener said.
Of the county's 21 COVID-19 deaths, 15 have been at long-term care facilities.
At least five of the deaths at county long-term care facilities have been at Festus Manor Care Center.
According to a dashboard the state has set up, Jefferson County has had five COVID-19 outbreaks in long-term care facilities. In addition to Festus Manor, the outbreaks have been at Big River Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Cedar Hill; Woodland Manor Nursing Center in Arnold; Scenic View Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Herculaneum; and Fountainbleau Nursing Center south of Festus.
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.
Of the cases at long-term care facilities, 30 are active ones, and 142 have been released from isolation. Residents in long-term care facilities go through two quarantine periods before being released from isolation, the Health Department reported.
Also, according to the Health Department, 19 people from long-term care facilities have been hospitalized.
State, U.S. stats
As of today, Missouri had 18,868 positive cases of the coronavirus and 975 deaths related to the disease, according to the DHSS.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported the U.S. had 2,336,615 cases, which includes 34,313 new cases and a total of 121,117 coronavirus-related deaths, including 784 new 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.
