ST. LOUIS — COVID-19 hospitalizations are at the lowest point since Nov. 3, 2020, and improving hospital capacity in the Metro East means that region could see a return to indoor dining as early as Thursday.
On Wednesday, the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force reported 462 hospitalizations, the lowest since Nov. 3, 2020, and less than half of the record number reported in early December 2020.
Despite improving COVID-19 hospitalization numbers, task force hospitals are about 82% full and ICU beds are at 84% capacity.
The following data are the combined figures from the four major health systems (BJC HealthCare, Mercy, SSM Health, St. Luke’s Hospital) that are part of the task force, for Feb. 3.
- New hospital admissions (data lagged two days) increased - from 51 yesterday to 68 today.
- The seven-day moving average of hospital admissions (data lagged two days) decreased – from 63* yesterday to 62 today.
- The seven-day moving average of hospitalizations decreased - from 517 yesterday to 501 today.
- Inpatient confirmed COVID positive hospitalizations decreased – from 474 yesterday to 462 today.
- Inpatient suspected COVID positive hospitalizations decreased – from 55 yesterday to 42 today.
- The number of confirmed COVID positive patients in the ICUs decreased – from 98 yesterday to 96 today.
- The number of confirmed COVID positive patients on ventilators decreased – from 76 yesterday to 71 today.
- The number of COVID deaths decreased – from 8 yesterday to 5 today.
- The seven-day moving average of COVID deaths decreased – from 11 yesterday to 10 today.
- Across the system hospitals, 91 COVID-19 patients were discharged to home yesterday, bringing the cumulative number of COVID-19 patients discharged to 18,003
- Today, staffed bed hospital capacity is at 82%, an average across our task force hospitals. The ICU’s are at 84% of their total staffed bed capacity.
The task force also updated previous admissions data:
- 1/22 — Admissions: 68, 7-day average: 83
- 1/23 — Admissions: 82, 7-day average: 80
- 1/24 — Admissions: 73, 7-day average: 77
- 1/25 — Admissions: 72, 7-day average: 78
- 1/26 — Admissions: 67, 7-day average: 77
- 1/27 — Admissions: 74, 7-day average: 75
- 1/28 — Admissions: 68, 7-day average: 72
- 1/29 — Admissions: 60, 7-day average: 71
- 1/30 — Admissions: 68, 7-day average: 69
- 1/31 — Admissions: 59, 7-day average: 67
- 2/1 — Admissions: 62, 7-day average: 65
- 2/2 — Admissions: 51, 7-day average: 63
- 2/3 — Admissions: 68, 7-day average: 62
One of the regions watching hospital data most closely has been the Metro East, where regional restrictions have remained in place due to a lack of ICU capacity. On Wednesday, the region reported 20% of ICU beds available for a second consecutive day.
If the numbers hold again on Thursday, the region would move to Phase 4 restrictions, which would allow for indoor dining.
In Missouri, the state's health department reported 461,720 COVID-19 cases and 7,098 deaths as of Wednesday, a single-day increase of 1,233 cases and 10 deaths.
The department also reported 4,185,641 PCR tests, a single-day increase of 12,358 tests.
The state's 7-day positivity rate remained the same on Wednesday, 9.3%.
The state reported a total of 553,095 vaccine doses, an increase of 22,610 in the last 24 hours. The state's dashboard says 7% of the state has received the first dose of the vaccine, up from 6.7% yesterday.
In Illinois, the state's health department reported 1,134,231 COVID-19 cases and 19375 deaths as of Wednesday, a single-day increase of 3,314 cases and 69 deaths.
The state also reported 16,258,348 tests, a single-day increase of 96,894.
The state's 7-day positivity rate decreased from 3.7% to 3.5%, the lowest in the state since Oct. 7.
The state also reported 1,094,135 vaccinations, a single-day increase of 65,166.
