ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force and incident commander Dr. Alex Garza are gave another briefing on Friday.
Here are the latest numbers from task force hospitals on Friday:
- New hospital admissions (data lagged two days) increased – from 17 Thursday to 32 Friday. *
- The seven-day moving average of hospital admissions (data lagged two days) increased – 23 Thursday to 24 Friday. *
- The seven-day moving average of hospitalizations increased from 164 Thursday to 166 Friday.
- Inpatient confirmed COVID positive hospitalizations increased - from 157 Thursday to 171 Friday.
- Inpatient suspected COVID positive hospitalzations increased – from 122 Thursday to 173 Friday.
- The number of confirmed COVID positive patients in the ICUs increased – from 40 Thursday to 43 Friday.
- The number of confirmed COVID positive patients on ventilators increased – from 24 Thursday to 25 Friday.
- Across the system hospitals, 37 COVID-19 patients were discharged Thursday bringing the cumulative number of COVID-19 patients discharged to 3,127.
*These numbers have been update to reflect the true number of daily admissions. There was a delay in reporting some test results leading to the increase in reported hospital admissions. This, in turn, affected the seven-day moving average of admissions.
Dr. Garza reiterated that the numbers on the rise show that there has been accelerated transmission in the community.
"We need to refocus," Dr. Garza said. "It has to be a collective effort."
Dr. Garza said many of the new cases have been driven by the younger population, aged 20-29, as have cases around the country. Dr. Garza said a lack of social distancing and mask wearing among these younger groups as more things begin to open back up has not helped stopping the spread.
When asked about hospital capacities, Dr. Garza said levels in the area are manageable right now, but it's how the numbers are trending that worries him.
From Tuesday to Thursday alone, St. Louis County has seen the largest increase in cases of any jurisdiction in the state of Missouri, with 538 new cases.
On Thursday, Missouri Governor Mike Parson said he will not be reversing course on reopening the state even as the state reported a record number of new cases of COVID-19 for the second time in three days.
The state reported 795 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, a new single day high for the state. The state also reported 12,485 new tests, the third-highest total since the state changed the way it reports testing numbers. The state's positivity rate increased from 5.70% on Wednesday to 5.72% on Thursday.
