As COVID respiratory illness cases continue to rise, the city is recommending the use of masks as a precautionary measure to help prevent the spread of the virus.
COVID Respiratory Illness On the Rise Chart
A spike in confirmed cases of COVID and associated respiratory illnesses has led to an increase in hospitalizations, prompting the City of St. Louis Department of Health to recommend that all city employees wear masks indoors, effective immediately.
While municipal employees are not required to wear a mask, they are strongly encouraged to do so. This recommendation is made due to significant simultaneous increases in COVID-19 cases, diagnosed instances of influenza, and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) activity; St. Louis County health officials have yet to make a similar recommendation.
St. Louis City Health Director Dr. Mati Hlatshwayo Davis stated in a recent release that respiratory viruses cause a “significant health burden in our community during winter”, pointing out that “this year is no exception.”
“Influenza, RSV, and COVID-19 diagnoses and hospital visits have been sharply increasing, particularly since the Thanksgiving holiday. This recommendation doesn’t come lightly — it is data-driven and focused on lowering community transmission of potentially deadly diseases.”
The Facts Are Clear
In the four weeks between Thanksgiving (week ending November 25, 2023) and Christmas (week ending December 23, 2023), the following circumstances developed:
• COVID-19 hospitalizations within the St. Louis Health Service Area (HSA) increased by 38%, with 270 individuals having been hospitalized with the disease by the week of December 23, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
• Influenza cases in the City of St. Louis rose 455%, with individuals aged 25-49 years seeing the highest number of infections, followed by children aged 5-14 years according to data from the City of St. Louis Department of Health.
• Publicly available testing data shows RSV-positive tests increased by 34%, with 400 positive tests during the most recent week with data available.
“If we all do our part and voluntarily mask up, we can expect the number of cases and hospitalizations to decrease over the coming weeks,” said Dr. Davis.
Davis also lamented that as of December 1, 2023, only 11% of St. Louis City residents had received the most up to date COVID-19 vaccine. “It is important that residents stay up to date with vaccinations to maintain adequate protection against these winter viruses, particularly as they evolve and new variants emerge,” she said. “With the activity of winter viruses rising at such a rapid pace, we must take action to slow transmission and prevent strain on our hospital systems.”
Davis went on to say that city residents’ “hard work” has kept St. Louis running throughout the pandemic.
An Ounce of Prevention
Prevention strategies to limit the spread of potentially life-threatening respiratory viruses include:
· Getting vaccinated
· Getting tested, especially when symptomatic
· Staying home when sick
· Covering coughs and sneezes with your sleeve or a tissue, not your hand
· Avoid touching eyes, nose, or mouth
· Washing hands often, for at least 20 seconds
· Wearing a high-quality, well-fitting face mask
· Cleaning/disinfecting objects and surfaces regularly
St Louis and St. Louis County governments let pandemic-related requirements for face coverings in public spaces expire in March 2022.
St. Louis Public Radio reported this week that BJC HeathCare implemented a mask requirement for employees again last month, in response to rising rates of RSV, flu and the coronavirus.
The four major hospital systems in the region had dropped their mask requirements in March 2023. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has placed St. Louis and St. Louis County in a “medium” hospitalization level, a tool the agency uses to illustrate how prevalent the coronavirus is in a community.
The CDC recommends people in counties with “medium” coronavirus hospitalization levels wear an N-95 or other high-quality mask if they’re at risk for becoming extremely sick. The agency also recommends people self-test for the virus before encountering people vulnerable to severe illness and wear masks while indoors with them.
