St. Louis doctors again urge masks, vaccines as COVID-19 hospitalizations rise

The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 is again rising in the St. Louis area, according to the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force.

In the region’s hospital systems, 130 people are hospitalized with COVID-19, with 16 people in ICUs and six on ventilators.

“That’s not a great prognostic sign for those individuals,” said Dr. Clay Dunagan, St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force co-leader. “So we are seeing some important and serious infections with this disease.”

The number of hospitalizations is still significantly lower than earlier in the pandemic. The task force reported more than 1,000 hospitalizations in January. Dunagan said the St. Louis region has not reported a COVID-19 death in the past few days, but he noted that deaths often lag behind increased case numbers.

Task force officials say the coronavirus is spreading in the region at a rate about five times higher than six weeks ago. The recent surge matches reports from health departments across the country following the end of mask mandates.