ST. LOUIS COUNTY — St. Louis County Executive Sam Page reported on Monday that, as private and public schools began reopening over the past few weeks, the county has tallied 75 cases of COVID-19 among students and staff there.
In public schools, which are largely teaching virtually, most COVID-19 cases have been among staff, Page said. There have been 26 cases among staff, and seven among students.
In independent schools, which are largely teaching in person, cases have been primarily among students. There have been 39 student cases, and three cases among staff.
Page said that 40 schools in the county have reported either a positive case, or a close contact with a case, meaning a household member or parent tested positive.
He said that the health department would release more detailed data this week on infections among younger residents.
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Still, Dr. Alex Garza, who leads the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force, said during a briefing Monday that it will take another week or so before the region's COVID-19 data reflects the full impact of schools starting.
"If those schools that started in person have all those mitigation strategies in place, and they follow them very strictly, then we would hopefully not see a large increase," Garza said.
The St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force reported 36 new admissions, and a total of 313 patients currently hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19. The seven-day average rose to 305, the highest since late May. The data lags by two days.
Week-over-week changes in new cases, adjusted for population, show the largest increases in Bond, Clinton, Jersey and Calhoun counties.
The city of St. Louis reported 6,077 total confirmed cases, an increase of 27 from the day before. St. Louis County reported 154 new cases Monday, reaching a total of 19,432.
Missouri reported 1,042 new cases of COVID-19, reaching a total of 84,697 and 22 more deaths over the last 24 hours.
Illinois reported 1,668 new confirmed COVID-19 cases Monday, reaching a total of 235,023, and seven more deaths.