ST. LOUIS — As local Covid-19 cases and deaths continue to fall and vaccination rates rise, attention is turning to which areas have fared best a year into the pandemic.
On the Missouri side of the St. Louis metro, St. Louis County has the highest death rate, at 207 per 100,000 people, according to an analysis of New York Times data updated Sunday and U.S. Census Bureau estimates for 2019.
Following were:
- Franklin County (161 deaths per 100,000)
- The city of St. Louis (146 deaths per 100,000)
- St. Charles County (114 deaths per 100,000)
- Jefferson County (101 deaths per 100,000)
- Warren County (81 deaths per 100,000)
- And Lincoln County (66 deaths per 100,000)
St. Charles led, though, for cases, at more than 10,000 per 100,000 people, followed by Franklin (9,784), Jefferson (9,703), Lincoln (9,160), St. Louis County (9,092), Warren (8,289) and the city of St. Louis (7,316).
St. Louis County's top health official, Dr. Faisal Khan, said more research is needed to determine why certain populations fared worse with the virus, and that comparing statistics by jurisdiction would eventually require more information, like demographics, economic data and how local authorities defined virus deaths.
He also said it would be "incorrect and ill-advised" to critique lockdown policies using the data.
Missouri lawmakers last week advanced a measure that would limit local government executives' pandemic powers, a response to controversial restrictions put forward in the past year by St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson and St. Louis County Executive Sam Page. The bill in particular would restrict business closures for health or public safety reasons to 15 days.
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