ST. LOUIS — Missouri and Illinois on Friday reported further declines in COVID-19 infection rates, continuing a trend the states have seen since reaching record levels in late 2020.
Missouri’s seven-day average of new cases fell below 600 on Friday for the first time since July, and Illinois’ seven-day average was below 1,800 for the first time since September.
Missouri reported 562 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, and the seven-day average of new cases fell to 559, according to a Post-Dispatch analysis. The average peaked on Nov. 20, at 4,723.
The Department of Health and Senior Services reported 1,254 hospitalized COVID-19 patients statewide, compared with 1,281 the day before. That is down from a peak of 2,862 on Dec. 22. Missouri hospitalization data lags three days, and not every hospital reports every day.
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The state also reported 14 more deaths due to the virus.
Missouri reported Friday that 680,951 people have received a first dose of vaccine, or 11.1% of the state’s population. Of those, 285,856 have received a second dose.
The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 2,219 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, up from 1,966 the day before. The seven-day average of new cases fell to 1,782, according to a Post-Dispatch analysis, the lowest level since mid-September.
There were 1,596 hospitalized COVID-19 patients statewide, down from 1,655 the day before. Illinois reported 71 more deaths due to the virus.
Illinois’ Region 4 — which includes Madison, St. Clair, Bond, Clinton, Monroe, Randolph and Washington counties — had a reported positivity rate of 4.2%, indicating that about 1 in 24 of the region’s COVID-19 tests in the past week have been positive.
The St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force reported 48 new COVID-19 patients admitted to hospitals in the area, up from 39 the day before.
The task force reported a total of 301 virus patients across area BJC HealthCare, Mercy, SSM Health and St. Luke’s Hospital facilities — down from 313 one day earlier. Task force data lags two days.
Dr. Alex Garza, who leads the task force, said during a briefing Friday that he is cautiously optimistic about the declining hospital admissions and census numbers, but added, “we’re not out of the woods yet.â€
“There’s still a deadly virus spreading throughout the community, and many of our most vulnerable loved ones and neighbors are still waiting for a vaccine,†Garza said. “So we need to stay vigilant about prevention, and stopping the spread of the virus.â€
COVID-19 in Missouri and Illinois: By the numbers
NOTE: On Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) changed how it reports COVID-19 cases and deaths. The department began counting reinfections as new cases, and added epidemiologically linked cases to its counts.
On April 17, 2021, DHSS adjusted a database error that was causing individuals with both a positive PCR and antigen result to be counted as both a probable and confirmed case. This correction removed 11,454 cases that were counted twice in previous probable antigen cases, according the notation. That date's data has been removed from this display.
Beginning March 8, 2021, DHSS began posting county-level data showing "probable" COVID-19 cases detected by antigen testing. Using the historical data from the DHSS dashboard, we reconfigured this graph to include that number in the total.
Missouri updated its data dashboard on Sept. 28. 2020, to delete duplicate cases. This resulted in a decrease of total cases which caused the daily count to reflect a negative number. That date's data has been removed from this display.
NOTE: On Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) changed how it reports COVID-19 cases and deaths. The department began counting reinfections as new cases, and added epidemiologically linked cases to its counts.
On April 17, 2021, DHSS adjusted a database error that was causing individuals with both a positive PCR and antigen result to be counted as both a probable and confirmed case. This correction removed 11,454 cases that were counted twice in previous probable antigen cases, according the notation.
Beginning March 8, 2021, DHSS began posting county-level data showing "probable" COVID-19 cases detected by antigen testing. Using the historical data from the DHSS dashboard, we reconfigured this graph to include that number in the total.
Missouri updated its data dashboard on Sept. 28. 2020, to delete duplicate cases. This resulted in a decrease of total cases which caused the daily count to reflect a negative number.
NOTE: On Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) changed how it reports COVID-19 cases and deaths. The department began counting reinfections as new cases, and added epidemiologically linked cases to its counts.
NOTE: On Oct. 11, Missouri announced that a database error had resulted in an “incorrect inflation†of cases in its Oct. 10 report
Note from St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force: The data includes patients at BJC HealthCare, SSM Health and St. Luke's Hospital. As of Jan. 17, 2022, the data includes patients at the VA St. Louis Healthcare System.
Note from Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services: Note: Due to an abrupt change in data measures and the reporting platform issued by the White House on Monday, July 13, and effective Wednesday, July 15, Missouri Hospital Association (MHA) and the State of Missouri were unable to access hospitalization data during the transition. .
NOTE: On Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) began counting probable death along with confirmed deaths.
