The Jefferson County Health Department has reported nine more COVID-19-related deaths, bringing the total number of county residents who have died from the virus to 278 since the pandemic began.
Those nine deaths include a man in his 30s, a woman in her 40s, a man in his 40s, a woman in her 50s, a woman in her 60s, a woman in her 70s, two men in their 70s and a woman in her 80s.
One of the nine deaths is connected to a long-term care facility.
The last time a death tied to a long-term care facility was reported in the county was on April 21, said Brianne Zwiener, the Health Department’s public communication officer.
As of today (Sept. 2), the county has seen a total of 89 deaths connected to from long-term care facilities in the county.
During the week of Aug. 22-28, the county had 577 new COVID-19 cases, and of those, 86.3 percent were among unvaccinated people, and 13.7 percent were breakthrough cases, meaning cases among those who had been vaccinated, the Health Department reported.
As of today, the county has had a total of 28,129 coronavirus cases since the first ones were reported in March 2020.
Quarantine guidance for schools modified
The Health Department has updated its COVID-19 quarantine guidelines for schools and now say students who might have been exposed to the virus from another student or staff member may stay in school as long as they wear a mask during their 14-day quarantine period.
Previously, students who might have been exposed in school had to quarantine at home for seven days if they had no symptoms and got a negative COVID-19 test, or for 10 days if they had no symptoms and no test or for 14 days if they tested positive or had symptoms.
Under the new guidelines, students who may have been exposed outside of school still have to follow the previously guidelines, staying at home somewhere between seven and 14 days.
Zwiener said the modified quarantine guidelines are just a recommendation to school districts.
Hillsboro R-3 School District Superintendent Jon Isaacson, who’s also the president of the Jefferson County Superintendents Association, said the new guidance was determined through a collaborate effort between the Health Department and county school district superintendents.
“As we start the new year, it is a delicate balance of meeting children’s educational, emotional, and health needs. We collectively feel it is vital to keep our kids safely in school after a year when so many days were missed due to contact related quarantine,” Isaacson said.
“Our goal is just to keep kids in class and we're excited about this being another tool in the toolbox,” he said.
Isaacson said Health Department and superintendents looked at data from last school year before updating the guidelines.
“Basically, 1 percent of the kids who were sent home last school year ended up being a subsequent positive student,” he said.
Jeana Vidacak, public health preparedness supervisor at the Health Department, said COVID-19 quarantine guidelines are intended “to keep our students and teachers safely in the classroom for physical and mental health, but we also recognize that Delta variant is vastly different than the original strain of COVID-19.”
In the Hillsboro schools, masks are encouraged but not required, and the district will follow the new guidance, Isaacson said.
He said the district has about 100 students quarantined at home today, and with the new guidelines, that number would be lower.
To allow students who might have been exposed to COVID-19 from a student or staff member quarantine at school, the building must have less than 4 percent of students and staff testing positive for the virus. If a school building has more than 4 percent of staff and students testing positive, all case contacts must quarantine at home.
The Health Department recommends that schools with positive rate that’s 2 percent or higher implement additional mitigation measures, like wearing masks, social distancing and improved hygiene.
Schools that allow in-school quarantine for students who are exposed to the virus from another student of staff member also must send a letter to parents about the potential risk and new quarantine guidelines. Students who have a potential exposure will have a designated area to eat lunch.
In addition, any elementary classroom that has a student or staff member test positive for COVID-19 must wear a mask for 14 days and practice social distancing when possible. The person who tested positive must quarantine at home.
The modified guidelines don’t apply to extra-curricular activities.
Students 12 and older who are fully vaccinated or those who had and recovered from COVID-19 in the previous 90 days do not have to abstain from athletic competition or extracurricular activities. Also, if a student has a possible in-school exposure but that student and the student with COVID were properly wearing well-fitting masks, then the student with the possible exposure may still take part in extra-curricular activities, according to the Health Department statement.
Students who do not meet those requirements will have to abstain from extracurricular activities for 14 days. However, they may observe the extracurricular activity while wearing a mask and social distancing.
“JCHD has utilized data to guide our efforts over the last 18 months,” Health Department director Kelley Vollmar said. “As we learn more from the data, we are able to make adjustments to our strategies to make activities safer and more accessible for our communities. The modified quarantine is a result of that data analysis. Schools and parents now have the option to utilize the data to guide their local district policies in order to ensure the optimal learning experience for children, safety for teachers and students and implement guidelines that meet their local needs.”
Color status
For a sixth consecutive week, the county is in the red status on the Health Department’s COVID-19 warning system. Red is the highest level on the four-color system and indicates high transmission of the virus within the community.
The main indicator of the color status is the total number of cases in a seven-day period per 100,000 people.
The number of cases per 100,000 people for the week of Aug. 22-28 was 256.44, which was up from the previous week when there were 235.11 new cases.
“We aren’t seeing many changes in our weekly case counts or the positivity rate when comparing the last few weeks,” Health Department epidemiologist Sara Wilton said. “The highest percent increase in cases once again came from the 0-9 year age group.”
She said 100 cases were reported for the 0-19 age group during the week of Aug. 22-28, and during the same week last year, 41 cases were reported for that age group.
A total of 14.2 percent of COVID-19 tests among Jefferson Countians was positive during the week of Aug. 22-28. That is up from the prior week, which had 13.3 percent of people testing positive.
Vaccines
Health officials urge residents to take steps to limit the spread of the virus, including wearing masks and getting the COVID-19 vaccine, which they say is the best way to curb the spread of the virus and prevent hospitalizations and deaths from the virus.
Overall, 34.47 percent of Jefferson County residents was vaccinated as of Wednesday (Sept. 1), up slightly from the week before, when 33.8 percent was vaccinated, according to the Health Department.
People may sign up for a vaccine appointment through the Health Department by going to the state vaccine Navigator website at covidvaccine.mo.gov/navigator. Or they may call 877-435-8411.
Or, to find a local vaccine site, visit vaccinefinder.org.
