ST. LOUIS — The number of COVID-19 patients in St. Louis task force hospitals surpassed the 1,000 mark for the first time Tuesday. It’s the latest record-breaking number as the omicron variant continues to surge through the St. Louis area following the holidays.
The St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force said there are 1,023 COVID patients in task force hospitals, which topped Monday’s daily hospitalization record of 964 patients.
As far as how many of those hospitalized patients were vaccinated, the task force had data from three of their hospitals, which showed 29% of the COVID-19 patients are fully vaccinated. The task force defines fully vaccinated as having received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Longer-term data also showed the trend of cases being on the rise. The seven-day moving average of hospital admissions increased from 159 new patients Monday to 168 Tuesday – another record high figure.
The task force said 87% of hospital beds and 83% of ICU beds are currently occupied in their hospitals, up from 86% and 79%, respectively.
There were 12 new COVID-19-related deaths reported Tuesday.
In an unplanned briefing last Thursday, task force leaders called the current state of COVID-19 in area hospitals “a frightening scenario.”
Dr. Alex Garza said the current staff is struggling to handle the workload of the increased patient population, and some of their employees are testing positive. Workers who test positive are sent home to quarantine, which means hospital capacity could decrease due to decreased staffing.
"At a time when we need to be surging, barring really any outside help, we simply can't stay on this path and be able to operate," Dr. Garza said.
Task force leaders plan to give their next update Wednesday afternoon.
Full data for Jan. 4, 2022:
- New hospital admissions (data lagged two days) increased – from 159 yesterday to 176 today.
- The seven-day moving average of hospital admissions (data lagged two days) increased – from 159 yesterday to 168 today. *New seven-day moving average record
- The seven-day moving average of hospitalizations increased – from 808 yesterday to 858 today.
- Inpatient confirmed COVID positive hospitalizations increased – from 964 yesterday to 1023 today. *New daily hospitalization record
- Inpatient suspected COVID positive hospitalizations increased – from 42 yesterday to 59 today.
- The number of confirmed COVID-positive patients in the ICU increased – from 175 yesterday 178 today.
- The number of confirmed COVID positive patients on ventilators increased – from 106 yesterday to 111 today.
- 12 COVID deaths are being reported today.
- The seven-day moving average of COVID deaths remained the same at 10 today.
- Across the system hospitals, 160 patients were discharged yesterday bringing the cumulative number of COVID-19 patients discharged to 33,522.
- Of the 955 hospitalized COVID patients in the three reporting Task Force hospital systems today – 281 are fully vaccinated. That’s 29% of the patient population.
- There are 30 COVID-positive children who are 0-11 years of age in Task Force hospitals.
- There are 31 COVID-positive children who are 12-18 years of age in Task Force hospitals.
- There are 11 COVID-positive children who are 0-11 years of age and in the ICU.
- There are 3 COVID-positive children who are 12-18 years of age and in the ICU.
The latest surge in cases has prompted several area hospital systems to change their visitor policies, similar to what was put in place in spring 2020.
Also, several school districts are changing their COVID-19 policies. Belleville and Edwardsville said too many teachers or staff members are in quarantine or isolation, so they’ve reverted back to virtual learning to start the new year. Other districts, like Kirkwood and Lindbergh, are going back to requiring masks, after just recently lifting mandates.
On Monday, St. Louis County Executive Sam Page said the number of cases and positivity rate in the county was "the worst we've ever been in the pandemic."
The St. Louis County health department is reporting a seven-day rolling average of 1,871 new cases per day as of Tuesday. The average positivity rate was 27.1%.
"Our health care workers are begging people to get vaccinated and wear masks. They're seeing the toll it's taking on our community, and they're seeing more sick kids. They're exhausted and they're disappointed," Page said Monday.
The St. Louis County Council has a meeting Tuesday night and the agenda includes discussing a possible countywide mask mandate.