St. Louis COVID cases rise 40% in one week, 7 people die across region in a day

Ninety-one COVID-19 patients have been admitted to intensive care units in the St. Louis region and seven people have died in the past day.

Nearly all were unvaccinated, according to the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force, which urged people to wear masks in public.

Dr. Clay Dunagan, acting head of the task force, attributed a spike in cases to a low vaccination rate, the delta variant, and the easing of masking and social distancing.

“We are strongly encouraging all citizens of our region to return to or continue wearing masks in public places,” he said in a video posted Tuesday. “This is not currently being mandated, but it is a personal decision that all of us can make to use one of the most effective weapons we have to mitigate the surge we’re currently experiencing.”

The masking recommendation, Dunagan said, includes people who have been vaccinated because they can still get infected and transmit the virus. Masking also protects children who are under age 12 and are not eligible to be vaccinated.

In the video, Dunagan also asked businesses to re-implement mask requirements and urged people to get vaccinated.

St. Louis County has had a 28.6% increase in cases in the past seven days compared to the previous week, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. The City of St. Louis has seen a 40.8% increase in cases in the past seven days.

Katie Moore

The Kansas City Star

816-234-4312

Katie Moore was an enterprise and accountability reporter for The Star. She covered justice issues, including policing, prison conditions and the death penalty. She is a University of Kansas graduate and began her career as a reporter in 2015 in her hometown of Topeka, Kansas.