The Jefferson County Health Department reported 150 new COVID-19 cases today (Nov. 17), including 21 cases at long-term care facilities.
That brings the total number of cases in the county to 9,477 since the first ones were reported in March, according to the Health Department.
The Health Department also announced the county will remain at the red level on the agency’s COVID-19 warning system.
Red is the highest level on the 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 the period from Nov. 8 to Nov. 14, the seven-day rolling average of cases in the county was 95.05 per 100,000 per day per 100,000 people in the county, which has a population of about 225,000.
That is the highest rolling average the county has seen since the first COVID-19 cases were reported in March, according to Health Department.
Health Department officials stress the importance of taking steps to prevent the spread of the virus, including avoiding crowds, social distancing, wearing face masks in public, good hand washing and staying home if you are sick.
“The time to act is now,” Health Department Director Kelley Vollmar said. “Our public health workers and hospital staff are overwhelmed and exhausted. There are no ‘relief teams’ to bring in. The pandemic has exhausted our healthcare resources to the point of collapse.”
Health Department officials say they are especially worried about the spread of the virus over the upcoming holiday season, when people tend to gather with family and friends. Those kinds of gatherings, the Health Department has warned, can lead to the spread of COVID-19, which is particularly dangerous for older people and those with pre-existing health conditions.
Health Department epidemiologist Sara Wilton said the surging COVID-19 cases is not the result of increased testing in the county.
“Looking back at CDC Week 45 (Nov. 8-14), Jefferson County data shows our cases grew by 58 percent (from the week before), and our testing only grew by 17 percent,” she said. “The positive case growth is significantly outpacing our testing growth, which is similar to what is currently happening across the Midwest.”
Maximus, a company the Health Department Board of Trustees hired to help the agency with tracing and contacting people who have been exposed to the virus, has begun contact tracing, the Health Department reported.
If the contact tracers call someone, the phone call will come from either 636-797-3737 or 833-921-3258, according to the Health Department.
County COVID stats
The county currently has 3,309 active cases, the highest number of active cases so far, the Health Department reported.
Of the 9,477 cases in the county, 8,727 are lab confirmed and 750 are probable cases. A case is considered probable when a person has been exposed to a positive case and is exhibiting symptoms, the Health Department reported.
As of midnight Monday, 1,558 people were quarantined, which means they had a confirmed exposure to the virus and were in the process of completing a 14-day quarantine period.
A total of 6,054 people had been released from isolation, according to the Health Department.
Of the county’s total coronavirus cases, 821 have been at long-term care facilities, which includes residents and staff members who live in Jefferson County.
Of the 94 deaths in the county, 55 have been connected to long-term care facilities, the Health Department reported.
The county has had at least 23 COVID-19 outbreaks in long-term care facilities, according to the Health Department.
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.
State, U.S. stats
Missouri has had 248,886 positive cases of the coronavirus and 3,453 deaths related to the disease, the DHSS reported today.
The CDC reported the U.S. has had 11,136,253 cases, and a total of 246,232 coronavirus-related 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.
