The Jefferson County Health Department reported 66 new COVID-19 cases today, including three at long-term care facilities.
That brings the total number of cases in the county to 4,172 since the first ones were reported in March.
Those cases are through midnight Tuesday (Sept. 22).
Of the total cases in the county, 1,047 are active ones, which is the number of positive cases excluding COVID-19 deaths and patients who have been released from isolation.
The county has had a total of 60 COVID-19-related deaths in the county since the pandemic began, and 3,062 cases have been released from isolation, which means the patients recovered enough to be released from case management, the Health Department reported.
Another three cases are under investigation, according to the Health Department.
Health Department board meeting
Health Department officials decided Tuesday (Sept. 22) to move the county back to the red level on the agency’s four-color COVID-19 alert system, after the county spent the previous week at the orange level.
The red level is the highest level on the alert system and indicates widespread uncontrolled community transmission and calls for more mitigation efforts to control the spread of the virus.
The Health Department Board of Trustees has a regular meeting scheduled for 3 p.m. Thursday (Sept. 24) at the agency's Hillsboro office, but Health Department Director Kelley Vollmar said the board has no plans to discuss or enact a mask mandate or any other mitigation efforts at the meeting.
She also said the board has no plans to discuss COVID-19 at the meeting, although it might vote to schedule a meeting to take up the topic.
According to the agenda, the board will be asked to approve past meeting minutes, vote on new legal counsel and vote on whether to schedule a special meeting to discuss COVID-19.
This is the second time the county has been in the red level, and neither county officials nor the Health Department Board of Trustees mandated any mitigation efforts the first time.
The main indicator used to determine the color level is the seven-day rolling average of cases per day/per 100,000 residents, according to the Health Department.
The red level indicates the county, which has a population of about 225,000, is seeing 25 or more cases per 100,000 people per day.
When the county was moved into the red level again Tuesday, the rolling average was 31.94 per 100,000 people, Vollmar said.
Health Department officials urge residents to take preventive steps to limit the spread of the virus, including eliminating unnecessary travel, avoiding crowds, social distancing, wearing masks, frequently washing hands staying home if you are sick.
Brianne Zwiener, Health Department communications specialist, said the agency looks at the data everyday for trends, but the data is reviewed every Tuesday to see if the color level needs to be changed.
County COVID-19 stats
Of the total cases in the county, 3,859 are lab confirmed and 313 cases are probable. A case is considered probable when a person has been exposed to a positive case and is exhibiting symptoms, according to the Health Department.
The Health Department also reported today that it has monitored a total of 4,323 cases, and of those, 1,053 are still actively quarantined and another 3,270 have been released from quarantine.
Zwiener 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 coronavirus cases, 556 have been at long-term care facilities, which includes residents and staff members who live inside Jefferson County.
Of the county’s 60 COVID-19-related deaths, 43 deaths have been in long-term care facilities, the Health Department reported today.
The county has had at least 18 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.
The Health Department also reported that of the total number of cases at long-term care facilities, 134 are active ones, and 379 have been released from isolation.
State, U.S. stats
Missouri had 115,366 positive cases of the coronavirus and 1,864 deaths related to the disease, the DHSS reported today.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported the U.S. had 6,874,982 cases, and a total of 200,275 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.
