St. Louis City and County health officials issued a new recommendation on Monday: As COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations across the region increase, it’s wise to wear a mask.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tracks COVID-19 community levels by county across the United States; last week, both St. Louis and St. Louis County moved into the “high” COVID-19 community level category. According to a joint press release from city and county health officials, the city’s case rate is 220.5 cases per 100,000 residents, and the county’s is 272 cases per 100,000 residents over the past seven days. Hospitalizations are also rising according to that same press release. The city’s hospitalization rate is 10.3 new admissions per 100,000 residents over that same time period; the county’s is 11.4.
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While cases and hospitalizations increase, St. Louis City and St. Louis County health officials are issuing a strong recommendation: Wear a face mask while indoors in public and outside in a crowd.
“Our action to strongly recommend wearing face masks is strictly data-driven,” said Dr. Mati Hlatshwayo Davis, director of health for the City of St. Louis, in the release. “The data is clearly telling us we have to take action to reduce the cases. We all need to do our part. We know that masks minimize the transmission of the virus and we can expect a decline in cases and a decline in hospitalizations if our community voluntarily masks up during this critical time.”
Dr. Faisal Khan, acting director of the St. Louis County Department of Public Health, echoed Davis: “COVID still poses a threat to our community, and we need to use all the tools available to us to reverse this trend and slow transmission.”
According to the CDC, when the COVID-19 community level reaches “high,” residents should:
- Wear a well-fitting mask indoors in public regardless of vaccination status. Immunocompromised patients should wear a mask that provides greater protection than cloth.
- Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines. The CDC now recommends COVID-19 vaccines and a booster for everyone ages 5 and older. According to the Springfield News-Leader’s vaccination tracker, only 64 percent of St. Louis County residents are fully vaccinated. Only 57 percent of city residents are fully vaccinated.
- Get tested if you have COVID-19 symptoms.
