ST. LOUIS — The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services reported more than 1,000 new COVID-19 cases for the fourth day in a row, but Thursday's single-day positivity rate was the lowest in more than a week.
The department reported 1,062 new cases and seven new deaths Thursday, bringing the totals in the state to 56,383 cases and 1,280 deaths.
Thursday's update from the department reported 179 fewer cases than Wednesday and 1,022 fewer than the record increase reported last Thursday.
The department reported 11,764 new polymerase chain reaction — or PCR — tests Thursday, bringing the total in the state to 742,311. On Thursday, the state's positivity rate increased from 7.57% to 7.60%.
Although the overall positivity rate increased Thursday, the single-day positivity rate in the state was the lowest since July 27.
The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients increased significantly Thursday, from 882 to 966, the second-highest number since the pandemic began. The only day with more hospitalized patients was May 5, when 984 people were hospitalized. The number reported Thursday represents data from Aug. 3 because the data is delayed by 72 hours to ensure accuracy.
Hospitalization numbers in the St. Louis area improved Thursday. The Task Force reported 31 new admissions, the fewest since July 27. The 7-day rolling average of new admissions remained above 40. Task force incident commander Dr. Alex Garza said anything above forty new admissions is considered 'in the red zone.'
Thursday's task force numbers are:
New hospital admissions (data lagged two days) decreased – from 40 yesterday to 31 today. *
The 7-day moving average of hospital admissions (data lagged two days) decreased – from 44 yesterday to 43 today.
The 7-day moving average of hospitalizations increased - from 265 yesterday to 269 today.*
Inpatient confirmed COVID-19 positive hospitalizations decreased - from 284 yesterday to 266 today.
Inpatient suspected COVID-19 positive hospitalizations decreased – from 133 yesterday to 132 today.
The number of confirmed COVID-19 positive patients in the ICUs increased – from 69 yesterday to 70 today.
The number of confirmed COVID-19 positive patients on ventilators increased – from 35 yesterday to 39 today.
Across the system hospitals, 60 COVID-19 patients were discharged yesterday, bringing the cumulative number of COVID-19 patients discharged to 4,123.
*A delay in testing results for Aug. 5 has changed our hospital admissions data but did not affect the rolling 7-day average. The hospitalization number was also adjusted. These numbers have been corrected.
The changes are:
- Aug. 5, - 40 Admissions versus the 39 originally reported.
- Aug. 5, - rolling seven-day average changes to 265 after a change in admissions on Aug. 3, to 290 hospitalizations.
St. Louis County reported 288 new cases and one new death Thursday, bringing the totals in the county to 14,362 cases and 653 deaths. The county reported 3,418 new tests conducted, bringing the total number of tests conducted in the county to 187,042. The average positivity for the past seven days is 8.6%, according to the county's dashboard.
