The Jefferson County Health Department reported today (Nov. 9) that the county saw a record number of COVID-19 cases between Nov. 1 and Nov. 7 and as a result, will stay at the red level on the agency’s warning system.
Red is the highest level on the four-color system and indicates widespread and uncontrolled transmission of the virus.
For the week ending Nov. 7, the seven-day rolling average of cases was 65.02 per 100,000 per day per 100,000 people in the county, which has a population of 250,000.
That is the highest rolling average the county has seen since the first COVID-19 cases were reported in March, said Brianne Zwiener, communications specialist with the Health Department.
Several factors are evaluated when determining the color level, including Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and White House Pandemic Task Force guidelines. However, the main indicator is the seven-day rolling average. If the county has a rolling average of 25 or more cases per day per 100,000 residents, it is moved to the red level.
Zwiener said the county’s COVID-19 test positivity rate is currently 27.52 percent, which is the highest since the pandemic began.
Also, Zwiener said the county had 1,024 COVID-19 cases between Nov. 1 and Nov. 7, which is the highest number of cases in one week.
Health Department officials continue to “strongly encourage” preventive measures to stem the spread of the virus, including avoiding crowds, physical distancing, wearing masks, frequently washing hands and staying home if you are sick.
The officials said they are especially worried about the spread of the virus over the upcoming holiday season.
“Our concern is case contacts or undiagnosed positive COVID-19 individuals unintentionally spreading COVID-19 to their more vulnerable family members,” Health Department Director Kelley Vollmar said. “It is imperative we take the appropriate prevention measures to reduce the spread as much as possible. The weight now rests on residents taking personal responsibility for slowing the spread of the virus. Only through mass adoption of individual protective measures will we see a change in the trajectory of the growth of cases through the end of the year.”
County COVID-19 stats
The Health Department reported 442 new COVID-19 cases since its last report on Nov. 6.
Of those cases, 168 were from Nov. 6, 146 were from Nov. 7 and 128 were from Sunday (Nov. 8).
That brings the total number of COVID-19 cases to 7,760 since the first cases were reported.
The county also has had 90 COVID-19-related deaths since the pandemic began, according to the Health Department.
In addition, the county currently has 1,985 active cases, which includes lab-confirmed cases and probable cases.
Of the 7,760 cases in the county, 7,167 are lab confirmed and 593 are probable cases. A case is considered probable when a person has been exposed to a positive case and is exhibiting symptoms, the Health Department reported.
As of Sunday night, 1,430 people were quarantined, which means they had a confirmed exposure to the virus and were in the process of completing a 14-day quarantine period.
A total of 5,663 people had been released from isolation, according to the Health Department.
Of the county’s total coronavirus cases, 743 have been at long-term care facilities, which includes residents and staff members who live in Jefferson County.
Of the county’s 90 deaths from the disease, 54 have been at long-term care facilities.
The county has had at least 20 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.
State, U.S. stats
Missouri has had 212,441 positive cases of the coronavirus and 3,153 deaths related to the disease, the DHSS reported today.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported the U.S. has had 9,913,553 cases, and a total of 237,037 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.
November 10, 2020 at 09:04AM
https://www.myleaderpaper.com/coronavirus/county-stays-at-red-level-after-record-number-of-covid-19-cases/article_1ab9079e-22f9-11eb-a5e8-576334bfb52a.html
County stays at red level after record number of COVID-19 cases - Leader Publications
https://news.google.com/search?q=Red&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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