The St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force is sounding the alarm about rising hospitalization admission rates due to the coronavirus. Data released on October 28 show the four major hospital systems are reporting 72 admissions for COCID-19, which is the most reported since tracking began in early April.
Those 72 admissions increase the seven-day moving average to 56, which is the fifth highest total the Task Force has reported since the pandemic began and the highest number since April 11.
“In September, we were concerned when our admissions totals climbed over 40. Seeing totals like this is heartbreaking,” said Dr. Alex Garza, incident commander for the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force.
On top of rising COVID admissions, hospitals in the St. Louis region are operating at near capacity with some even over capacity.
Currently on average, the regional health care systems are reporting their facilities are at 85% capacity and growing. The ICUs are at 75% capacity and growing. “We have a lot of sick people in our care, and they don’t just have COVID-19. But we can prevent the number of patients sick with the virus if we all just wear a mask, social distance, stay away from large gatherings and wash our hands,” Garza said.
Task Force hospital systems include SSMHealth, BJC HealthCare, Mercy and St. Luke’s Hospital. They continue to work together to address capacity and staffing concerns. Its members also want to thank all of those health care heroes on the front line, dedicating themselves to helping the community during this difficult time.