The Jefferson County Health Department has announced 104 new positive COVID-19 cases today (Sept. 29), including seven at long term-care facilities.
That brings the total number of cases in the county to 4,574 since the first ones were reported in March.
Those cases are through midnight on Monday (Sept. 28).
Of the county’s total cases, 1,117 are active ones – the highest number of active cases the county has seen.
Active cases are the number of positive cases excluding COVID-19 deaths and patients who have been released from isolation. The county has had 61 COVID-19-related deaths since the pandemic began, and a total of 3,393 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.
Of the 4,574 cases in the county, 4,220 are lab confirmed and 354 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 4,801 cases, and of those, 1,065 are still actively quarantined and another 3,736 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 coronavirus cases, 588 have been at long-term care facilities, which includes residents and staff members who live inside Jefferson County.
In addition, 44 of the county’s 61 deaths have been in long-term care facilities, the Health Department reported today.
The county has had at least 19 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, 113 are active ones, and 431 have been released from isolation. One case is still under investigation.
Preventive steps
Health Department officials decided 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 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.
The Jefferson County Health Department Board of Trustees voted 3-2 Thursday to hold a special board meeting to discuss COVID-19 prevention measures, which could include limiting the size of groups that can gather and issuing a face mask mandate.
However, as of today, the board had not set a date, time or location for the special meeting.
The trustees said it would give the public at least a week’s notice when it holds a special meeting and will hold it in a larger venue so members of the public may attend.
The Health Department Board of Trustees passed a mandatory mask ordinance on August 28, but less than 24 hours later, before the order went into effect, the board revoked the ordinance at an emergency meeting after questions were raised about whether the board followed proper procedures.
While the Health Department board has not mandated any mitigation efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19, officials urge residents to take preventive steps, including eliminating unnecessary travel, avoiding crowds, social distancing, wearing masks, frequently washing hands, and staying home if you are sick.
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.
State, U.S. stats
Missouri had 124,762 positive cases of the coronavirus and 2,086 deaths related to the disease, the DHSS reported today.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported the U.S. had 7,129,313 cases, and a total of 204,598 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.
