The Jefferson County Health Department said some residents have reported that someone claiming to represent the agency has visited their homes under the guise of contacting them about COVID-19.
However, the Health Department said it does not send anyone to homes to follow up on COVID-19 cases.
“We want to assure the public our COVID-19 case investigators and contact tracers only contact folks via phone,” the Health Department reported today. “We confirm information prior to discussing any confidential information as well. “
The Health Department reported 37 new COVID-19 cases in the county today (Aug. 31), including three at long-term care facilities in the county.
That brings the county total number of coronavirus cases in the county to 2,813 since the first ones were reported in March.
Those are the total cases through Sunday evening (Aug. 30), according to the Health Department, which will begin reporting cases around noon each day, reflecting the cases from the previous day.
Of the total cases, 768 are open, or active, ones, the Health Department reported.
Active cases are the number of positive cases excluding COVID-19 deaths and those patients who have been released from isolation.
The county has had 45 COVID-19-related deaths, and 1,992 cases have been released from isolation, which means the patients recovered enough to be released from case management, according to the Health Department.
Another eight cases are under investigation.
Health Department Director Kelley Vollmar urges residents to take steps to limit the spread of the virus, like avoiding crowds, social distancing, wearing masks and washing hands frequently.
The Health Department also advises residents to keep track of the four-color system the agency uses to warn residents about the level of threat to the community from COVID-19 and the preventive steps needed to curb the spread of the virus.
Vollmar said the county is still at the orange level, which indicates substantial but controlled transmission of the virus in the county. It means the county is seeing 10 to 24 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people per day.
Orange is the third-highest stage, behind the red stage, which means there is substantial, uncontrolled transmission in the community and calls for the most restrictions to limit the spread of the disease, such as a stay-at-home order.
The county, which has a population of about 225,000, would move into the red stage if it were seeing 25 or more new cases per 100,000 people per day, according to the new system.
The color system also has a yellow stage, which indicates minimal to moderate transmission of the virus and a green stage that means no to minimal transmission.
For more information about the system, go to jeffcohealth.org.
County COVID-19 stats
Of the total cases in the county, 2,562 are lab confirmed and 251 cases are probable, the Health Department reported today.
For the week that ended Aug. 22 (the most recent data available), a total of 2,227 county residents had been tested for COVID-19, and 258 were positive and 1,969 were negative. That translates to a 11.6 percent positivity rate, which is higher than the week before, when 3,309 people were tested and there was an 8.61 percent positivity rate.
As of Aug. 22 (the most recent data available), a total of 141 Jefferson County residents had been treated for COVID-19 at a hospital in either the Mercy or BJC hospital systems, according to the Health Department.
The Health Department, however, does not have data from the hospitals in the SSM Health system.
The Health Department reported today that 35 of the county’s total cases were contracted through travel, 1,105 were transmitted through contact with someone with the virus, and it’s unknown how 1,673 of the cases were contracted.
According to the Health Department, 1,172 of the county’s coronavirus cases have been men, 1,434 cases have been women and 207 are unknown.
The confirmed COVID-19 cases in the county include 89 people younger than nine, 231 people 10 to 19 years old, 516 people 20-29 years old, 399 people 30-39 years old, 440 people 40-49 years old, 413 people 50-59 years old, 305 people 60-69 years old, 187 people 70-79 years old, 184 people in their 80s or older and 49 unknown.
The Health Department also reported that cases in the county have been reported for the following ZIP codes: 492 cases and 253 recovered cases in 63010 (Arnold), 141 cases and 84 recovered cases in 63012 (Barnhart), 76 cases and 47 recovered cases in 63016 (Cedar Hill), 70 cases and 42 recovered cases in 63019 (Crystal City), 156 cases and 93 recovered cases in 63020 (De Soto), 25 cases and 16 recovered case in 63023 (Dittmer), 32 cases and 20 recovered cases in 63025 (Eureka), 256 cases and 181 recovered cases in 63026 (Fenton), 393 cases and 256 recovered cases in 63028 (Festus), one case and zero recovered in 63030 (Fletcher), one case and one recovered case in 63047 (Hematite), 37 cases and 22 recovered in 63048 (Herculaneum), 180 cases and 123 recovered cases in 63049 (High Ridge), 202 cases and 114 recovered cases in 63050 (Hillsboro), 147 cases and 94 recovered cases in 63051 (House Springs), 380 cases and 259 recovered cases in 63052 (Imperial), three cases and two recovered in 63057 (Liguori), one case and one recovered cases in 63065 (Mapaville), 11 cases and seven recovered case in 63069 (Pacific) and 71 cases and 43 recovered cases in 63070 (Pevely). Another 138 cases do not have ZIP code information.
In addition, the Health Department reported today that it has monitored a total of 2,772 cases, and of those, 716 are still actively quarantined and another 2,056 have been released from quarantine.
Brianne Zwiener, Health Department communications specialist, 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, 467 have been at long-term care facilities, which includes residents and staff members who live inside Jefferson County.
The county has had at least 15 COVID-19 outbreaks in long-term care facilities, the Health Department reported.
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 county’s 40 COVID-19 deaths, 34 have been in long term-care facilities, the Health Department reported.
The Health Department also reported that of the total number of cases at long-term care facilities, 189 are active ones, and 244 have been released from isolation. Residents in long-term care facilities go through two quarantine periods before being released from isolation.
State, U.S. stats
Missouri had 84,697 positive cases of the coronavirus, including 1,042 new ones today, and 1,530 deaths related to the disease, including 22 new ones reported today, according to the DHSS as of today.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported the U.S. had 5,972,356 cases, and a total of 182,622 coronavirus-related deaths.
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.
