Dr. Alex Garza
Dr. Alex Garza, the head of St. Louis' Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force, gave a briefing on Wednesday in which he shared that hospital admissions for COVID-19 are on the rise in the St. Louis region.
On Wednesday in the St. Louis region, there were 171 hospitalized COVID-19 patients, 41 patients in the ICU, and 25 patients on ventilators. The ICU and ventilator numbers remained flat. Garza did say that hospitalizations fell from the previous day, from 177 to 171, which he called good news.
However, he said, "our numbers are on the rise again, which is always concerning. We continue to see a trend in the upward direction, and that is absolutely what we don't want to see. What this translates into is that we have some accelerated transmission of the virus in the community, and we have to do everything now to slow that down."
Garza said that the curve of hospital admissions continues to bend upward, with 30 new admissions on Wednesday, the highest since May 19. Garza said that this data, in particular, is "quite worrisome," and pointed out that hospitalizations are lagging data. Earlier in the week, St. Louis County Executive Dr. Sam Page shared that the age group with the largest number of COVID-19 cases was 10–30. Garza pointed out that a rise in cases would eventually spell a rise in hospitalizations, if not in that age group then in those who might be in higher-risk categories with whom they interact.
The rolling seven-day average of COVID-19 hospital admissions is also up to 21 after a dip on Tuesday. "These numbers are really concerning because it means that not only are more people testing positive for the virus, but more people are getting sick and requiring hospitalizations," Garza said. He said that numbers in the twenties and thirties are concerning, especially when there are trends. "This isn't just an individual blip on the radar," he said of St. Louis' numbers. "This is definitely a trend."
Garza shared the seven-day rolling average of COVID-19 hospitalized patients. That number was 164, which is the highest since June 13.
Garza said that, in the absence of a vaccine, only the community can decrease the spread of COVID-19 by mask-wearing, keeping 6 feet of distance, avoiding crowds, and hand-washing.
You can watch the full briefing below:
