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St. Louis pandemic task force gives update on COVID-19 hospitalizations

The task force incident commander Dr. Alex Garza was joined by a Mercy Hospital respiratory therapist

ST. LOUIS — The number of COVID-19 patients in St. Louis area hospitals remains "stubbornly high," as the St. Louis Area Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force reported an increase of new hospital admissions Wednesday.

You can watch the task force's briefing by clicking this link or in the video player below.

The task force incident commander Dr. Alex Garza was joined by Mercy Hospital respiratory therapist Leigha McDaniels, who shared "her story caring for COVID patients on the front line," according to a press release from the task force. 

St. Louis area hospitals received their first shipments of vaccines within the last week. Mercy has started to vaccinate some health care workers and BJC HealthCare said its employees will begin to receive vaccinations Thursday.

The following data are the combined figures from the four major health systems (BJC HealthCare, Mercy, SSM Health, St. Luke’s Hospital) that are part of the task force, for Dec: 16.

  • New hospital admissions (data lagged two days) increased from 100 yesterday to 129 today.
  • The seven-day moving average of hospital admissions (data lagged two days) decreased – from 119* to 116 today.
  • The seven-day moving average of hospitalizations increased - from 894 yesterday to 896 today.
  • Inpatient confirmed COVID positive hospitalizations decreased – from 920 yesterday to 904 today.
  • Inpatient suspected COVID positive hospitalizations increased – from 91 yesterday to 99 today.
  • The number of confirmed COVID positive patients in the ICUs decreased – from 181 yesterday to 175 today.
  • The number of confirmed COVID positive patients on ventilators decreased – from 111 yesterday to 108 today.
  • The number of COVID deaths decreased – from 25 yesterday to 24 today.
  • The seven-day moving average of COVID deaths decreased – from 23 yesterday to 22 today.
  • Across the system hospitals, 130 COVID-19 patients were discharged to home yesterday, bringing the cumulative number of COVID-19 patients discharged to 12,836.
  • Staffed bed hospital capacity is at 84%, an average across our task force hospitals. The ICU’s are at 87% of their total staffed bed capacity.

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services Wednesday reported a total of 353,038 cases of COVID-19 - an increase of 2,673 cases since Tuesday. The department also reported a total of 4,799 deaths, an increase of 45 deaths since Tuesday.

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