ST. LOUIS — "I wish it was an easier scenario to deal with but right now it's not looking promising," explained St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force Director Dr. Alex Garza.
On Saturday, Missouri reported the second highest one-day increase in COVID-19 cases since the pandemic started in March.
There were 121 new deaths reported, also the second most of any day during the pandemic, and right now St. Louis area hospitals are full.
"We're seeing an increase in our COVID-19 patients and then a decreasing ability to staff beds and to take care of patients. And so that's creating a tremendous amount of stress on the health care system," added Garza.
Garza said most cases are coming from areas outside of St. Louis city and county.
"When we have an addition of those patients on top of the patients we already have it's going to create that inflated number," said Garza.
New numbers on Sunday show 315 people in the St. Louis area are in the hospital for COVID-19, 82 people are in intensive care and 43 are currently on ventilators.
"It really could turn out to be a concerning situation where we are right back to where we were in the spring," said Garza.
Which is the last thing anyone wants to see.
"We just need everyone to take it seriously and participate in mitigating the transmission," added Garza.