The Jefferson County Health Department announced on Wednesday (Sept. 30) that the county is staying in the red level status for COVID-19.
The red level is the highest level on its four-color alert system and indicates widespread uncontrolled community transmission. The level calls for additional mitigation efforts to control the spread of the virus.
Jefferson County has been in red level since Sept. 13 and was also in red level status during the week of Aug. 30 to Sept. 5.
The main indicator used to determine the color level is the seven-day rolling average of cases per day per 100,000 residents.
The red level indicates the county, which has a population of about 225,000, is seeing 25 or more cases per 100,000 people per day.
According to the Health Department, the seven-day rolling average per 100,000 people for the week of Sept. 20-26 was 28.13. The week before, the average was 31.56.
Today, Health Department Director Kelley Vollmar said she is working to schedule a meeting of community leaders to offer advice on a possible mitigation plan.
“I think this will be an internal meeting of the minds,” she said.
Vollmar said the meeting will most likely be held virtually. Because this will not be a meeting with the Health Department’s Board of Trustees, no agenda will be posted. Vollmar said she was unsure if the meeting would be livestreamed for public viewing.
Vollmar said she is looking to invite business owners, law enforcement leaders, school administrators and long-term care facilities representatives. She said her list also includes County Executive Dennis Gannon, members of the Jefferson County Council and mayors of cities in the county.
“Each of those has definitely experienced this pandemic in a different way,” she said.
Vollmar said she hopes the meeting, which she said she wants to be held Monday (Oct. 5) or Tuesday (Oct. 6) will be an opportunity for participants to speak freely.
“This has been a tough topic for the community,” she said.
She said because Health Department board members will not be at the meeting, no vote will be taken on any steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“This is not a meeting to set a mandate,” she said. “This is a meeting to set a plan.”
She said any plan the group may draw up would be presented to the board and released to the public.
The Health Department’s Board of Trustees voted 3-2 Sept. 24 to hold a special board meeting to discuss COVID-19 prevention measures. Vollmar said as of Wednesday (Sept. 30) that no meeting date has been set, but she hopes to have an agenda released by the middle of next week.
Board members said the public would be given at least a week’s notice of any meeting and said it would be held in a venue that will allow members of the public to attend.
The board passed a mandatory mask ordinance on Aug. 28, but less than 24 hours later, before the order went into effect, it revoked the ordinance at an emergency meeting after questions were raised about whether the board followed proper meeting procedures.
While the Health Department board has not mandated any mitigation efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19, officials urge residents to take preventive steps, including eliminating unnecessary travel, avoiding crowds, social distancing, wearing masks, frequently washing hands and staying home if you are sick.
County COVID stats
The Health Department announced three additional COVID-19-related deaths today, bringing the county’s total to 64 deaths since March. Two of the three additional deaths were patients in long-term care facilities.
The deaths include a man in his 80s and two women, one in her 70s and the other in her 90s.
“We extend our deepest condolences to the friends and families of these residents,” Vollmar said. “As we continue to see more cases and community transmission, we will continue to see our hospitalizations and deaths increase as well. We must take individual preventative actions to protect those around us, especially our most vulnerable populations.”
The Health Department announced 48 new COVID-19 cases today, including one at a long-term care facility.
That brings the total number of cases in the county to 4,622 since the first ones were reported in March.
Those cases are through midnight on Tuesday (Sept. 29).
Of the county’s total cases, 1,127 are active ones – the highest number of active cases the county has seen, plus four cases under investigation.
Active cases are the number of positive cases excluding COVID-19 deaths and patients who have been released from isolation. The county has had 64 COVID-19-related deaths since the pandemic began, and 3,427 patients have been released from isolation, which means the patients recovered enough to be released from case management, the Health Department reported.
Of the 4,622 cases in the county, 4,258 are lab-confirmed and 364 cases are probable. A case is considered probable when a person has been exposed to a positive case and is exhibiting symptoms, according to the Health Department.
The Health Department also reported today that 1,076 county residents are being monitored for symptoms while 3,812 have completed their required monitoring period.
Brianne Zwiener, Health Department communications specialist, said a person who is being actively monitored has been in contact with a positive case, but is not showing symptoms.
She said people who are actively monitored are quarantined to their homes and must take their temperature twice a day for 14 days.
Long-term care facilities
Of the county’s total coronavirus cases, 589 have been at long-term care facilities, which includes residents and staff members who live in Jefferson County.
In addition, 46 of the county’s 64 deaths have been in long-term care facilities, the Health Department reported.
The county has had at least 19 COVID-19 outbreaks in long-term care facilities, according to the Health Department.
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) defines an outbreak as one or more residents testing positive for the virus or one or more staff members who have worked within a facility in the 14 days before testing positive.
The Health Department also reported that of the total number of cases at long-term care facilities, 111 are active ones, and 432 have been released from isolation. One case is still under investigation.
State, U.S. stats
Missouri had 126,113 positive cases of the coronavirus and 2,118 deaths related to the disease, the DHSS reported today.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported the U.S. had 7,168,077 cases, and a total of 205,372 coronavirus-related deaths, as of today.
Anyone who shows coronavirus symptoms or who has questions should call the Missouri State Hotline at 877-435-8411 or the Mercy Clinical Support Line at 314-251-0500. For more information about COVID-19, visit jeffcohealth.org/coronavirus-covid19.
October 01, 2020 at 05:24AM
https://www.myleaderpaper.com/coronavirus/county-stays-in-red-meeting-with-community-leaders-on-covid-upcoming/article_a4113a78-036b-11eb-aa8c-ef2ba3b4beaa.html
County stays in red; meeting with community leaders on COVID upcoming - Leader Publications
https://news.google.com/search?q=Red&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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