Jefferson County had 96 new COVID-19 cases over the past three days, including 25 cases on July 18, another 48 cases on Sunday (July 19), and 23 cases today (July 20), the county Health Department reported.
The 48 cases on Sunday was the highest number of cases reported in the county in a single day, according to the Health Department.
With the latest 96 cases, that brings the county total to 969 cases since the first ones were reported in March.
Health Department director Kelley Vollmar said there haven’t been many cases at long-term care facilities lately, and instead a lot of the recent new cases are among younger people.
The highest number of cases by age is 169 in the 20-29 year-old category, and the next highest is 148 cases in 50-59 year-old group.
Of the county’s total cases, 301 are open, or active, ones. That is the highest number of active cases the county has had since tracking the numbers in March, 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 Health Department reported that the county has had 25 COVID-19-related cases and 643 people have been released from isolation, which means they recovered enough to be released from case management.
Health officials advise residents to practice social distancing, wear masks and take other steps to limit the spread of the virus.
The Health Department Board of Trustees is expected to meet at 3 p.m. Tuesday to discuss the pandemic and preventive measures, including a possible mandatory mask mandate.
The Health Department also encourages residents to pay attention to the agency’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 virus.
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
Of the county’s total cases, 882 are lab-confirmed cases and 87 are probable cases, according to the Health Department.
In addition, 75 county residents have been hospitalized due to the coronavirus, the Health Department reported.
The Health Department also reported today that 20 of the county’s cases were transmitted through travel, 460 were from contact and 489 are unknown.
According to the Health Department, 391 of the county’s coronavirus cases have been men, 506 cases have been women and 72 are unknown.
The confirmed COVID-19 cases in the county include 19 people younger than nine, 49 people 10 to 19 years old, 169 people 20-29 years old, 131 people 30-39 years old, 134 people 40-49 years old, 148 people 50-59 years old, 130 people 60-69 years old, 60 people 70-79 years old, 52 people in their 80s or older and 77 unknown.
The Health Department also reported that cases in the county have been reported for the following ZIP codes: 151 cases and 97 recovered cases in 63010 (Arnold), 40 cases and 24 recovered cases in 63012 (Barnhart), 37 cases and 25 recovered cases in 63016 (Cedar Hill), 14 cases and 12 recovered cases in 63019 (Crystal City), 49 cases and 40 recovered cases in 63020 (De Soto), 10 cases and six recovered case in 63023 (Dittmer), 19 cases and 12 recovered cases in 63025 (Eureka), 107 cases and 82 recovered cases in 63026 (Fenton), 158 cases and 120 recovered cases in 63028 (Festus), one case and one recovered case in 63047 (Hematite), 10 cases and four recovered in 63048 (Herculaneum), 66 cases and 37 recovered cases in 63049 (High Ridge), 40 cases and 16 recovered cases in 63050 (Hillsboro), 54 cases and 42 recovered cases in 63051 (House Springs), 115 cases and 63 recovered cases in 63052 (Imperial), three cases and one recovered case in 63069 (Pacific) and 25 cases and 15 recovered cases in 63070 (Pevely). Seventy cases do not have ZIP code information.
In addition, the Health Department reported today that it has monitored a total of 1,451 cases, and of those, 625 are still actively being monitored and another 826 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, 206 have been at long-term care facilities, which includes residents and staff members who live inside Jefferson County.
Jefferson County has had at least seven COVID-19 outbreaks in long-term care facilities, Vollmar said.
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 25 COVID-19 deaths, 18 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, 21 are active ones, and 167 have been released from isolation. Residents in long-term care facilities go through two quarantine periods before being released from isolation.
Also, according to the Health Department, 21 people from long-term care facilities have been hospitalized.
State, U.S. stats
As of today, Missouri had 33,624 positive cases of the coronavirus and 1,132 deaths related to the disease, according to the DHSS.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported the U.S. had 3,761,362 cases, which includes 63,201 new cases, and a total of 140,157 coronavirus-related deaths, including 498 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.
