ST. LOUIS — COVID-19 cases have continued to increase in the St. Louis area, but leaders of the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force say the increases are not universal throughout the numbers the task force tracks.
In a Tuesday afternoon briefing, Dr. Clay Dunagan said hospitalizations have increased at a slower rate than cases. He said they will monitor that to see if it will continue.
"It's a little bit too early to see if that's going to be a sustained trend, but I think there's growing evidence that we won't see hospitalizations increase as swiftly as case rates," he said.
Dr. Dunagan said the main reason for that is vaccination. He said while the region is lagging behind the national averages, older people and people at higher risk for serious symptoms have mostly been vaccinated.
Another reason for the lower hospitalization rates is treatments like monoclonal antibodies. Task force hospitals administered 283 antibody infusions in the last week, and Dr. Dunagan said the treatments can result in shorter hospital stays and lessened symptoms.
The treatment is available for people who test positive for COVID. It is also available as a preventative measure for people who might have been exposed and are at high risk of serious symptoms.
Although most of the COVID-19 patients in task force hospitals are unvaccinated, the portion of vaccinated people who end up hospitalized with COVID-19 has increased slightly in recent weeks. Dr. Dunagan said one of the reasons behind the slight increase is waning vaccine immunity.
He said many people who were vaccinated earliest are now six months removed from their final dose. For some of those people, particularly those who have conditions that affect their immune systems, waning immunity put them at risk of serious symptoms that landed them in the hospital.
"In that 27%, a majority of those have things that put them at higher risk, either a compromise in their immune system or they're older or both," he said.
Older people and people with compromised immune systems are eligible for a booster shot, and Dr. Dunagan encouraged those groups to get a booster shot.
As for whether healthy, young people should get a booster shot, Dr. Dunagan said that is an ongoing debate. Several states have already given the green light for universal booster approval, and the FDA was asked to approve the Pfizer booster for all.
The data for November 16, 2021, is as follows:
- New hospital admissions (data lagged two days) decreased – from 36 Monday to 33 Tuesday.
- The seven-day moving average of hospital admissions (data lagged two days) remained the same Tuesday at 36 Tuesday.
- The seven-day moving average of hospitalizations increased – from 243 Monday to 244 Tuesday.
- Inpatient confirmed COVID-positive hospitalizations remained the same at 250 Tuesday.
- Inpatient suspected COVID-positive hospitalizations increased - from 31 Monday to 44 Tuesday.
- The number of confirmed COVID-positive patients in the ICU increased – from 56 Monday 58 Tuesday.
- The number of confirmed COVID-positive patients on ventilators decreased – from 35 Monday to 32 Tuesday.
- 6 COVID deaths were reported Monday.
- The seven-day moving average of COVID deaths increased - from 3 Monday to 4 Tuesday.
- Across the system hospitals, 38 patients were discharged Monday bringing the cumulative number of COVID-19 patients discharged to 30,194.
- Of the 206 hospitalized COVID patients in the three reporting Task Force hospital systems Tuesday – 56 are fully vaccinated. That’s 27% of the patient population.
- There are 4 COVID-positive children who are 0-11 years of age in Task Force hospitals.
- There are 6 COVID-positive children who are 12-18 years of age in Task Force hospitals.
- There is 1 COVID-positive child who is 0-11 years of age and in the ICU.
- There are 2 COVID-positive children who are 12-18 years of age and in the ICU.
- Tuesday’s staffed bed hospital capacity is at 89% an average across our task force hospitals. The ICUs are at 77% of their total staffed bed capacity.
