ST. LOUIS — The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services reported 57 new COVID-19 deaths Tuesday, but not all of them occurred in the last 24 hours.
On Tuesday, the department reported 115,366 COVID-19 cases and 1,864 deaths, an increase of 1,059 cases and 57 deaths.
Tuesday's increase of 57 deaths was one of the highest increases in the state during the pandemic, second to 77 reported on Sept. 9. However, both Tuesday and Sept. 9 included deaths that did not occur in the previous 24 hour period, according to the state health department.
When asked about Tuesday's increase in deaths, the department provided the following statement:
"Local public health agencies are working with DHSS to update several cases to show as deceased when appropriate in our disease surveillance system. The numbers we add to the state’s total death count today and tomorrow will include deaths that occurred prior to the past 24 hours. I plan to have more details tomorrow."
On Sept. 9, the department said it discovered and corrected an error in the data and reported 72 deaths that occurred between June and August. Additional deaths were also reported the following day.
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Of the 57 new deaths reported Tuesday, 10 were from St. Louis, five were from Washington County and three were from St. Louis County.
The department reported 1,241,749 PCR tests as of Tuesday, an increase of 22,190 in the last 24 hours. It was the first time the state reported more than 20,000 new PCR tests in a single day.
According to the department, the positivity rate for the last seven days was 11.5%.
On Tuesday, the department reported fewer than 1,000 hospitalizations in the state for the first time in five days. Tuesday, the department reported 981 hospitalizations, down from 1,022 reported Monday. Hosptialization data from the Missouri DHSS is delayed 72 hours, so the number reported Tuesday represents the number of hospitalizations on Sept. 19.
In the St. Louis area, most of the numbers tracked by the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force saw single-day increases, but the rolling averages for new admissions and total hospitalizations remained mostly the same.
The numbers from the task force on Tuesday are as follows:
- New hospital admissions (data lagged two days) increased from 23* yesterday to 30 today.
- The seven-day moving average of hospital admissions (data lagged two days) remained the same at 31 today.
- The seven-day moving average of hospitalizations increased – from 261 yesterday to 262 today.
- Inpatient confirmed COVID positive hospitalizations increased – from 267 yesterday to 273 today.
- Inpatient suspected COVID positive hospitalizations increased - from 95 yesterday to 101 today.
- The number of confirmed COVID positive patients in the ICUs increased- from 71 yesterday to 72 today.
- The number of confirmed COVID positive patients on ventilators increased from 40 yesterday to 45 today.
- Across the system hospitals, 37 COVID-19 patients were discharged yesterday, bringing the cumulative number of COVID-19 patients discharged to 5,984.
*Monday’s hospital admission data changed from 22 to 23 but did not affect the seven-day moving average. We apologize for any issues this may cause.