The Jefferson County Health Department reported two new COVID-19-related deaths in the county today (Aug. 19), a man and woman, both in their 90s and both from long-term care facilities.
“Our hearts are with their families and friends at this time,” Health Department Director Kelley Vollmar said this evening. “It’s imperative that we all take the necessary precautions as individuals to protect the health of our community, including those who are most vulnerable. Wear your mask, avoid crowds, maintain 6-foot social distance. Help protect public health.”
Today’s two COVID-19 deaths were the first since Aug. 4, bringing the total number of deaths from the disease at long-term care facilities to 23, and the total number in the county to 30 since the pandemic began
The Health Department also reported 54 new COVID-19 cases today, including four at long-term care facilities.
Today’s new cases bring the total for the county to 2,250 since the first cases were reported in March.
Fox C-6 has COVID-19 cases
Fox C-6 School District Superintendent Nisha Patel reported at a Board of Education meeting Tuesday night (Aug. 18) that about eight staff members have either tested positive for COVID-19 or have been quarantined because of the virus.
Patel said having those eight employees out sick or quarantined right before the start of the new school year on Aug. 27 is tough.
“It will be challenging for us to fill these spots,” she said. “I’m not going to sugar-coat it.”
However, Patel said Tuesday that the district still plans to start the school year offering some in-person classes.
“My belief is we have to at least try,” she said. “We are going to bring our kids back and our staff back and see how this is going to work.”
Fox will begin the year by offering a hybrid-learning model, which has students attending school two days a week in person and in reduced class sizes and learning the other three days from home online.
Fox also offered families the option to have their children sign up for its virtual academy, which is a five-day, online-only learning option for the first semester.
The district said about 20 percent of its students have enrolled in the virtual academy to start the school year.
Today JP Prezzavento, Fox’s communication and instructional technology coordinator, said the eight staff members fill various roles throughout the district, but he would not specify what jobs they hold.
He also said Fox is taking every precaution it can to try to prevent the spread of the virus and protect the health and safety of the district’s students and employees.
“Everything we are doing is aligned with CDC (Centers for Disease Control Prevention) guidelines,” Prezzavento said. “We are taking every step and precaution we can to keep our students and staff members safe to the best of our abilities.”
The Health Department has a four-color system to warn residents about the level of threat to the community from COVID-19 and the preventive steps needed to curb the spread of the virus.
The county currently is at the orange stage, which indicates substantial but controlled transmission of the virus in the county. It means the county is seeing 10 to 24 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people per day and health officials advise residents to follow the recommended steps to curb the spread of the virus.
Orange is the third-highest stage, behind the red stage, which means there is substantial, uncontrolled transmission in the community and calls for the most restrictions to limit the spread of the disease, such as a stay-at-home order.
The county, which has a population of about 225,000, would move into the red stage if it were seeing 25 or more new cases per 100,000 people per day, according to the new system.
The color system also has a yellow stage, which indicates minimal to moderate transmission of the virus and a green stage that means no to minimal transmission.
For more information about the system, go to jeffcohealth.org.
County COVID-19 stats
Of the county’s total cases, 633 are open, or active, ones, 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.
Also, 1,570 cases have been released from isolation, which means the patients recovered enough to be released from case management, according to the Health Department.
Seventeen other cases are under investigation.
Of the total cases, 2,065 are lab confirmed and 185 cases are probable, according to Health Department reports.
The Health Department reported that 32 of the county’s cases were transmitted through travel, 973 were from contact and 1,245 are unknown.
According to the Health Department, 991 of the county’s coronavirus cases have been men, 1,218 cases have been women and 41 are unknown.
The confirmed COVID-19 cases in the county include 62 people younger than nine, 171 people 10 to 19 years old, 429 people 20-29 years old, 326 people 30-39 years old, 360 people 40-49 years old, 342 people 50-59 years old, 250 people 60-69 years old, 144 people 70-79 years old, 151 people in their 80s or older and 15 unknown.
The Health Department also reported that cases in the county have been reported for the following ZIP codes: 422 cases and 220 recovered cases in 63010 (Arnold), 110 cases and 71 recovered cases in 63012 (Barnhart), 60 cases and 39 recovered cases in 63016 (Cedar Hill), 41 cases and 26 recovered cases in 63019 (Crystal City), 109 cases and 72 recovered cases in 63020 (De Soto), 22 cases and 14 recovered case in 63023 (Dittmer), 29 cases and 19 recovered cases in 63025 (Eureka), 224 cases and 167 recovered cases in 63026 (Fenton), 298 cases and 209 recovered cases in 63028 (Festus), one case and one recovered case in 63047 (Hematite), 29 cases and 20 recovered in 63048 (Herculaneum), 156 cases and 103 recovered cases in 63049 (High Ridge), 154 cases and 83 recovered cases in 63050 (Hillsboro), 119 cases and 84 recovered cases in 63051 (House Springs), 314 cases and 216 recovered cases in 63052 (Imperial), three cases and one recovered in 63057 (Liguori), one case and one recovered cases in 63065 (Mapaville), 10 cases and five recovered case in 63069 (Pacific) and 54 cases and 37 recovered cases in 63070 (Pevely). Another 94 cases do not have ZIP code information.
In addition, the Health Department reported today that it has monitored a total of 2,363 cases, and of those, 734 are still actively being monitored and another 1,629 have been released from monitoring.
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 cases of the coronavirus, 392 have been at long-term care facilities, which includes residents and staff members who live inside Jefferson County.
The county has had at least 13 COVID-19 outbreaks in long-term care facilities, the Health Department reported.
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 30 COVID-19 deaths, 23 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, 148 are active ones, and 221 have been released from isolation. Residents in long-term care facilities go through two quarantine periods before being released from isolation.
State, U.S. stats
Missouri had 70,675 positive cases of the coronavirus, including 1,258 new ones today, and 1,414 deaths related to the disease, including 12 new ones since today, according to the DHSS as of today.
The CDC reported the U.S. had 5,460,429 cases, which includes 39,318 new cases, and a total of 171,012 coronavirus-related deaths, including 1,172 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.
