ST. LOUIS — Dr. Alex Garza, the head of the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force, said he is concerned that most of the hospital data in the area either stayed the same or increased across the board Wednesday, but he is hopeful the new face mask requirement will help the region from moving backward in the reopening process.
"We've come really a long way and our numbers have dropped significantly since we first started this back in April," Dr. Garza said. "But that recent spike in cases across the region is concerning. And the increase in hospitalizations is concerning. And we don't want to go backwards. We want to continue to move forward with our reopening plans."
On Wednesday, new hospital admissions decreased from 28 to 22, but the 7-day average remained the same at 18, according to data provided by the St. Louis Metropolitan Task Force.
Below are the other data points provided by the task force. The data is lagged by two days.
- The seven-day moving average of hospitalizations increased from 137 Tuesday to 139 Wednesday.
- Inpatient confirmed COVID-19 positive hospitalizations increased from 143 Tuesday to 154 Wednesday.
- Inpatient suspected COVID-19 positive hospitalizations decreased from 94 to 93.
- The number of confirmed COVID-19 positive patients in the ICUs increased from 39 to 40.
- The number of confirmed COVID-19 positive patients on ventilators remained at 23.
- Across the system hospitals, 14 COVID-19 patients were discharged Wednesday, bringing the cumulative number of COVID-19 patients discharged to 2,905.
When it comes to mask-wearing, Dr. Garza said everyone needs to do their part because studies have shown that the practice is most effective when everyone wears one.
Another important thing to keep in mind is making sure your mask is made out of a fabric that will provide adequate protection, Dr. Garza said. He cited a study from the University of Nebraska to identify which fabrics to use and how many layers of each are most effective.
"You can use simple materials at home to make a mask or as everybody knows, they're available out on the market as well," Dr. Garza said. "I would, though, say that I would refrain from buying surgical masks or an N-95 mask because we'd like to save those for the health care market."
Dr. Garza said it could take weeks before hospitals see a potential increase in patients as a result of the increase in cases across the state. He said if that increase does happen, hospitals will be more prepared than they were at the beginning of the pandemic.
"Hospitals have learned a lot since the beginning of this pandemic on how to treat patients and how to organize the care, how to properly protect employees and staff and other patients, and so I feel like the health care systems are well prepared to deal with an increase in COVID patients," Dr. Garza said. "But really, the key is to just to not get there, to not need to do those things."
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services reported 376 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday. This increase was accompanied by a record number of new tests conducted in the state resulting in the state's positivity rate dropping to 5.63%, its lowest point since June 19.
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.
