The Jefferson County Health Department announced three new COVID-19-related deaths today (Jan. 27), bringing the county’s total number of deaths from the disease to 167 since the pandemic began.
The three deaths include a woman in her 60s, a woman in her 70s and a woman in her 80s.
One of the three new deaths is connected to a long-term care facility.
The county has had 167 COVID-19 deaths since the pandemic began, and 67 of those have been from long-term care facilities, the Health Department reported.
The Health Department reported 123 new COVID-19 cases today, for a total of 20,328 cases since the first ones were reported in March.
Of the county’s total coronavirus cases, 1,304 have been at long-term care facilities, which includes residents and staff members who live in Jefferson County.
The county has an estimated 763 active cases, according to the Health Department.
Brianne Zwiener, communications specialist with the Health Department, said the agency doesn’t follow up with all cases anymore, and the number of active cases is meant to give the public a “general estimate.”
Red level
The county remains at the red level on the Health Department’s COVID-19 warning system for the 13th consecutive week.
Red is the highest level on the Health Department’s four-color system and indicates widespread and uncontrolled transmission of the virus.
Several factors are evaluated when determining the color level, 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. If the county has a rolling average of 25 or more cases per day per 100,000 residents, it is moved to the red level.
From Jan. 17 through Jan. 23, the seven-day rolling average number of cases in the county was 50.86 per day per 100,000 people in the county, which has a population of about 225,000.
The rolling average is down from the previous week, when it was 53.84 per day per 100,000 residents, the Health Department reported.
Health Department officials urge residents to continue taking steps to prevent the spread of the virus, like wearing masks as stipulated by the county mask order, which has been extended until 5 p.m. Feb. 25.
The order is a joint order with the county government and requires residents to wear face masks in public spaces when social distancing cannot be maintained, but it does not call for any type of fine or penalty for people who violate it.
Residents are also advised to avoid nonessential travel, avoid crowds, practice social distancing and frequent hand-washing, and stay home if you are sick.
Board of Trustees meeting
The Health Department Board of Trustees is scheduled to meet at 3 p.m. Thursday (Jan. 28) via the Zoom videoconferencing app for its regularly monthly meeting.
According to the agenda, the board could vote to extend a contract for Maximus Federal Service to continue doing COVID-19 contact tracing for the Health Department. It also could vote on a contract to lease a freezer for vaccinations.
The board meeting will be livestreamed on the department’s YouTube channel.
Vaccine registration
The Health Department is registering residents for the COVID-19 vaccine. To sign up, residents must complete a form, and they will be contacted when they are eligible to be vaccinated.
Those interested in signing up for one of the vaccines may do so online at hipaa.jotform.com/210126757688060.
Comtrea, which offers health care services around the county, also is signing up residents for COVID-19 vaccinations and has received two shipments of vaccines. The first shipment included 250 vaccines, which were administered to Comtrea’s front-line employees.
The second shipment was for 1,000 vaccines, and once the rest of Comtrea’s staff is vaccinated, the agency plans to administer vaccines to the public, based on each person’s eligibility, marketing communications manager Nathanael Herbert said.
He said Comtrea plans to hold a vaccine clinic sometime next week in the gym at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Crystal City, but the time and date of the clinic had not yet been set.
To sign up through Comtrea, go to comtrea.org/vaccine-inquiry.
Mercy also has created an online sign-up method to help distribute vaccines to those eligible under the state’s vaccination plan. Anyone seeking the vaccine may visit mercy.net/MOVaccine to see if they are eligible under the current phase and register to receive a vaccine.
Vaccinations are being administered to those in Phase 1A, Phase 1B-Tier 1 and Phase 1B-Tier 2.
Phase 1A includes patient-facing health care workers and long-term care facility staff and residents, according to the Health Department.
Phase is 1B-Tier 1 includes essential workers in emergency services and the public health infrastructure.
Phase 1B-Tier 2 includes people 65 and older, as well as high-risk people between 18 and 64, including those with cancer, chronic kidney disease, COPD, heart conditions, weakened immune systems due to organ transplant, severe obesity (BMI >40), pregnancy, sickle cell disease, Type 2 diabetes mellitus, or intellectual and/or developmental disabilities such as Down syndrome.
Next will be Phase 1B-Tier 3, which includes essential workers in education, childcare, communications, information technology, transportation, government, food production and agriculture, energy, water and wastewater treatment and other fields.
Phase 2 includes populations at increased risk, like prisoners and homeless people. The last phase, which is Phase 3, includes all Missouri residents.
