The Jefferson County Health Department has reported 177 new COVID-19 cases, including 12 at long-term care facilities.
As of midnight Wednesday (Nov. 4), the county had a total of 7,118 COVID-19 cases since the first ones were reported in March.
The county also has had 90 COVID-19-related deaths since the pandemic began.
Health Department continues to “strongly encourage” preventive measures to stem the spread of the virus, including avoiding crowds, physical distancing, wearing masks, frequently washing hands and staying home if you are sick.
The county currently has 1,503 active cases, which includes lab-confirmed cases and probable cases.
Of the 7,118 cases in the county, 6,551 are lab confirmed and 567 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.
A total of 1,464 people is quarantined, which means a person has a confirmed exposure to the virus and is in the process of completing a 14-day quarantine period.
A total of 5,507 people has been released from isolation, according to the Health Department.
Of the county’s total coronavirus cases, 726 have been at long-term care facilities, which includes residents and staff members who live in Jefferson County.
Of the county’s 90 deaths from the disease, 54 have been at long-term care facilities.
The county has had at least 20 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
On Monday (Nov. 3), the Health Department moved the county back into the red status on its COVID-19 warning system – the highest level on the four-color system.
The red level indicates widespread and uncontrolled transmission.
Several factors are evaluated when determining the status, 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 of cases per day/per 100,000 residents.
If the county, which has a population of about 225,000 people, has a rolling average of 25 or more cases per day per 100,000 residents, it is moved to the red level.
Health Department Director Kelley Vollmar said Monday the rolling average was 42.73 after the county saw 673 more COVID-19 cases over the previous week. That was an 87 percent increase from the previous week.
State, U.S. stats
Missouri has had 196,576 positive cases of the coronavirus and 3,106 deaths related to the disease, the DHSS reported today (Nov. 5).
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported the U.S. has had 9,463,782 cases, and a total of 233,129 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.
