The Jefferson County Health Department reported three new COVID-19-related deaths today (April 14), bringing the county’s total number deaths from the disease to 236 since the pandemic began.
The latest deaths include a woman in her 60s, a woman in her 80s and a man in his 60s.
One of those three deaths was connected to a long-term care facility in Jefferson County.
In all, 87 of the county’s COVID-19-related deaths have been from long-term care facilities, the Health Department reported.
As of today, the county had a total of 22,727 COVID-19 cases since the first ones were reported in March 2020, the Health Department reported.
Of those cases, 1,343 were connected to long-term care facilities.
For a fifth consecutive week, the county is in the orange level of the Health Department’s COVID-19 warning system.
The orange status is the second highest on the four-color system and indicates widespread but controlled transmission of the coronavirus.
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 number of cases per day per 100,000 people.
The rolling average number of cases for the week of April 4 to April 10 was 18.67. That was down from the previous week, when the seven-day rolling average was 18.86 per day per 100,000 people in the county, which has a population of about 225,000.
If the county has 10 to 24 new COVID-19 cases per day per 100,000 people, it is in the orange level. If it has 25 or more cases per day per 100,000 people it would be in the red, or highest, level.
Health Department epidemiologist Sara Wilton said she hopes the downward trend continues but thinks it’s possible COVID-19 cases could rise following the recent Easter holiday.
“Because (Easter) was our first “bigger” holiday in a while, it will be interesting to see what happens with the weekly case counts the next couple of weeks since we always experienced increases after holidays during 2020,” she said. “I anticipate a little increase, but hopefully it will not be as drastic as the increases we saw last year due to the percentage of residents who have now been vaccinated.”
In addition to getting vaccinated, Health Department officials urge residents to take other precautions to curb the spread of the virus, like avoiding crowds, wearing masks in public, practicing social distancing and frequent hand-washing, and staying home when you are sick.
Vaccines
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services has halted administration of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine until further notice, following reports about several women who developed blood clots after receiving the vaccine.
The DHSS announced the pause in administering the one-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine in Missouri after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration released a joint statement on Tuesday (April 13) reporting that six people had a rare and severe type of blood clot after receiving the vaccine. According to the statement, all six cases of the cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) blood clot were seen in combination with low levels of blood platelets, known as thrombocytopenia, and in women ages 18 to 48. The women saw symptoms six to 13 days after receiving the vaccine.
As of Monday (April 12), more than 6.8 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine had been administered, the report said.
DHSS advises people who have received the vaccine and develop a severe headache, abdominal pain, leg pain or shortness of breath within three weeks of vaccination should reach out to a health care provider.
All Missouri adults are still eligible for two other COVID-19 vaccines – the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. Missouri residents 16 or older may get the Pfizer vaccine and those 18 and older to get the Moderna.
The Health Department will hold several vaccine clinics this month in the building it recently leased at 1275 N. Truman Blvd. in Festus, which previously housed a Schnucks store and before that a Shop ‘n Save store.
Zwiener said appointments are needed for upcoming clinics. Appointments may be made by going to jeffcohealth.org or calling 636-789-8941 for help.
Comtrea, which also offers health care services around the county, has vaccine clinics scheduled this month as well. To make an appointment, go to comtrea.org/vaccine or call 636-232-2308.
Mercy also has created an online sign-up method to help distribute vaccines. To sign up with Mercy, go to mercy.net/MOVaccine. SSM Health has an online vaccine appointment site at ssmhealth.com/access/covid19-vaccine-scheduling.
Other hospital systems and pharmacies also are registering people for the vaccines. To find a local vaccine site, visit vaccinefinder.org.
