ST. LOUIS — The latest coronavirus numbers in the St. Louis area didn’t see much positive movement Wednesday, according to the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force.
The task force covers four of the major hospital systems in the area: BJC HealthCare, Mercy, SSM Health and St. Luke’s Hospital.
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The daily update sent out Wednesday showed some of the data trends stayed about the same, but the number of total COVID-19 patients in task force hospitals increased by 29 people over the last 24 hours. The seven-day moving average of hospitalizations continued its steady decrease.
The graph below shows both the daily (white bars) and seven-day average (blue line) of total COVID-19 patients who are being treated at task force hospitals.
There were 18 new COVID-19 patients who checked in to St. Louis area hospitals (this data is lagged by two days to make sure everyone is accounted for), which was down from the 19 new patients reported Tuesday. The seven-day moving average of new hospital admissions stayed the same at 17.
Dr. Alex Garza, incident commander of the task force, recently told 5 On Your Side the number of new hospital admissions is the one they’re focusing on the most.
“That’s really a true number of what we think is going on in the community. It’s not skewed by other things that can happen, by hospitalization numbers or other numbers. The case numbers are a little bit difficult to interpret because of the way they’re reported. So, that’s the number we follow the most closely,” he said.
On Wednesday the seven-day moving average of new patients increased. It was the third time over the last week the average number of new COVID-19 patients decreased and increased from day-to-day.
The graph below shows the both the daily (white bars) and seven-day average (blue line) of new coronavirus patients who checked in to task force hospitals.
The full breakdown of data trends from the task force is below.
- New hospital admissions: 18, down from 19
- Seven-day moving average of new hospital admissions: stayed the same at 17
- Hospitalizations: 271, up from 242
- Seven-day moving average of hospitalizations: 288, down from 298
- Patients in the ICU: stayed the same at 62
- Patients on ventilators: 37, up from 34
Over the last 24 hours, 12 COVID-19 patients were released from task force hospitals, bringing the total to 2,493 COVID-19 patients sent home to recover since the first case was reported in the area.
Task force incident commander Dr. Alex Garza plans to give his next live stream update on Friday.
8 steps to stay healthy as cities reopen
Signs of what life was like before the coronavirus pandemic are beginning to make their way around St. Louis and St. Louis County.
But doctors say some of the changes we’ve made in our everyday lives need to stick around, possibly until a vaccine is approved.
“The virus hasn’t left. It hasn’t changed. It’s still here. It’s still very contagious and it’s still very dangerous,” Dr. Alex Garza said previously. He’s the incident commander of the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force.
For weeks now, Dr. Garza has stressed the importance of social distancing, frequently washing hands and cleaning surfaces. He said as economies and businesses reopen, it’s especially important to continue those practices that helped slow the spread of COVID-19 in the St. Louis area.
“We also know that we’re never going to be at zero transmission until there’s a vaccine. So, we have to learn how to live with the virus and take all those important steps to keep it in check,” Dr. Garza said.
To help keep the coronavirus in check in the St. Louis area, Dr. Garza offered these eight steps to keep yourself, your loved ones and the entire community safe.
- Stay 6 feet apart from others – the exception being those you live with
- Wear a face mask in public
- Wash your hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds
- Clean surfaces regularly, including phones, counters, light switches – anything that’s touched frequently
- Monitor yourself for signs of illness, contact your doctor if you’re experiencing COVID-19 symptoms
- Don’t gather with more than 10 people
- Stay at home if you’re vulnerable or at high risk of infection
- Don’t visit nursing homes or assisted-living facilities
“These are the steps we all need to make to keep the transmission rate low and to prevent the new surge in cases,” Dr. Garza said.