JEFFERSON COUNTY, Mo. — The Jefferson County Health Department reported a record 200 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, some of which were traced back to Halloween parties.
In a press release, Health Director Kelley Vollmar said the trend in new cases was concerning as we approach the holidays.
"We are experiencing levels of community transmission and resulting new cases that have not been experienced previously in the pandemic for our County,” Vollmar said in the press release. “This is particularly concerning right as we start the holiday season where thousands of residents are expected to travel and spend time with vulnerable loved ones.”
The release said the county has a positivity rate of 23%, and a total of 7,318 cases and 90 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.
The health department said contact tracers tracked cases back to three separate Halloween parties over the weekend. One of the parties had been tied to 10 separate positive tests in different family units as of Friday, the press release said.
“Informal social gatherings, like Halloween parties, are ideal transmission sites for the virus because people let their guard down," Vollmar said in the press release. "They usually don’t social distance or wear a mask because they are with people they know and presume to be safe exposures.”
Dr. Alex Garza expressed similar concerns in the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force's briefing Friday.
"People can be very good about wearing a mask when out in public, but it does us no good if you take that mask off and invite 10 friends over," he said.
Jefferson County reentered the "red zone" as the county's 7-day rolling average of cases per day per 100,000 residents increased to 43.73 Monday.
Friday's press release said protective measures have shown to be effective in the St. Louis Area.
"St. Louis City and St. Louis County are experiencing test positivity rates of 11.4% and 10.4% respectively with community mask mandates and additional restrictions in place," the press release said. "The surrounding counties of Jefferson, Franklin and St. Charles (non-restriction counties) all have twice the positivity rates of St. Louis City and County at 23%, 21.6% and 20.6% respectively."
Earlier in the year, the Jefferson County Health Department Board passed a mask mandate, but repealed it a day later.
In an interview on Friday, Vollmar said when it comes to a mask mandate, they are going to leave the responsibility of wearing mask on residents.
"Really it comes down to individual adoptions to those behaviors. There’s nothing we can mandate or force people to do. Mask mandate or no mask mandate, it’s individuals willing to take on the responsibility and incorporate those actions in their lives," she said.
Vollmar said right now they are spreading awareness.
"It’s going to take two to four weeks to get this under control, so if we start today we can make an impact by Thanksgiving. This is the point where we are really relying on the public to take individual responsibility," Vollmar adds.
Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Karthik Iyer, with Mercy Jefferson, is also urging the community to do their part.
"To see a rise before the holidays is something of concern. Please take action now. We need the community’s participation to help us out. How it impacts the community, it also affects the hospitals," Dr. Iyer said.
In order to keep up with the increasing cases, Jefferson County has contracted Maximus, a third-party vendor approved by Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, to help with contact tracing. Maximus will add 30 case investigators to work seven days a week, which will increase the capacity to about 125 cases per day, more than triple the current capacity. The company will start phasing in on Nov. 18 and will be fully implemented by Thanksgiving.
