MISSOURI, USA — The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services reported a record number of new COVID-19 cases for the second day in a row Wednesday.
The department reported a total of 46,750 cases and 1,220 deaths on its website Wednesday, an increase of 1,927 cases and seven deaths.
The state reported 7,975 new polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, tests in the last 24 hours, bringing the state's total to 660,899. PCR tests are the swab tests that look for active infection in people.
The state's positivity rate increased from 6.86% to 7.07%.
Wednesday was the ninth day in a row that the state reported more than 1,000 new COVID-19 cases. The state has broken its single-day record for new cases six times in those nine days.
For the first time in more than a week, the DHSS dashboard is reporting statewide hospitalization data. The dashboard said there are 797 COVID-19 hospitalizations across the state.
A change to where hospitals report their data caused the gap in reporting, and the DHSS is still working on clarification on the new system.
A note on the hospitalization tab of the dashboard said: "Due to variation in the interpretation of the definition of suspected COVID-19 patients, there may be slight discrepancies in the reporting of this measure. The Missouri Hospital Association (MHA) has sought clarification from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and are awaiting formally documented clarification, which will be shared with DHSS."
The number of new COVID-19 hospital admissions in the St. Louis Area hit 40 on Tuesday, returning to the high numbers reported last week. That trend continued Wednesday, as the task force reported 42 new COVID-19 admissions.
Below are the numbers reported by the task force Wednesday.
- New hospital admissions (data lagged two days) increased – from 40 yesterday to 42 today.
- The seven-day moving average of hospital admissions (data lagged two days) decreased – from 39 yesterday to 38 today.
- The seven-day moving average of hospitalizations decreased – from 244 yesterday to 243 today.
- Inpatient confirmed COVID positive hospitalizations increased - from 243 yesterday to 245 today.
- Inpatient suspected COVID positive hospitalizations decreased – from 98 yesterday to 95 today.
- The number of confirmed COVID positive patients in the ICUs increased, from 59 yesterday to 61 today.
- The number of confirmed COVID positive patients on ventilators remained the same at 28 for the fifth day in a row.
- Across the system hospitals, 43 COVID-19 patients were discharged yesterday, bringing the cumulative number of COVID-19 patients discharged to 3,789
St. Louis County reported 423 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday. The increase came a day after the county reported just 88 new cases, the smallest increase in two weeks. A message from the county health department said Tuesday's update was incomplete data due to issues with private urgent care companies that administer the tests.
The county said it continues to monitor cases using the seven-day averages, which have been rising since late June.
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The DHSS reported 4,221 COVID-19 cases in St. Louis, a single-day record increase of 164 cases for the city. The city has also reported 167 deaths, the same as Tuesday.
The city of St. Louis has the highest rate of cases in the St. Louis area with 1,404 cases per 100,000 people. St. Louis County — with 1,208 cases per 100,000 — and St. Charles County — with 835 per 100,000 — are second and third in the area.
For a full county-by-county breakdown of cases in the state, use our interactive map. Some of the local county numbers come from local health departments and may not match data from the DHSS.