COVID-19 in Missouri and Illinois: By the numbers

More than 14,000 people have died in the state of COVID-19.

The project will track coronavirus cases in schools and extracurricular activities like sports, band and choir.

The rise in cases has left health care systems planning a vaccine rollout without enough hands to do the work.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said his state's estimated Pfizer shipment for next week had also been "tightened," likely decreasing the state's projected December shipments by about half.

BJC HealthCare and SSM Health rolled out large-scale COVID-19 vaccinations for their frontline health care workers on Thursday.

A coronavirus vaccine has provided hope, but the virus continues to spread at a rate that troubles local officials. 

Dr. Alex Garza: ‘You just can’t maintain this sort of operations tempo at this rate, because it gives us very little room to maneuver. … We are burning our staff out.’

There were 2,862 patients hospitalized statewide, eclipsing the previous record of 2,851 on Nov. 18.

The United States reached a grim milestone on Saturday: 1 in 1,000 Americans have died from Covid-19 since the nation's first reported infection in late January.

Overall, new daily COVID-19 infections in Missouri and Illinois continued to decline Sunday from a record high in late November. But more people are being infected by COVID-19 each day in both states than at any time before November.

‘Our ICUs are still operating at near-full capacity and there is little room left if we were to have a surge in patients,’ Dr. Alex Garza warned.

Another 2,305 COVID-19 cases were reported Sunday, bringing the total of Missouri cases 401,761.

"We don't want any of these vaccines sitting around," Pritzker said.

The reluctance among health care workers mirrors some of the concerns of the broader population.

Parson on Thursday activated the first part of Phase 1B, which focuses on law enforcement, firefighters and public health professionals, among others.

Variant first appeared early in the pandemic and has become one of the most prevalent in the U.S., accounting for about half of cases in the country.

Washington U. study was published online Wednesday in the medical journal Gastroenterology.

Antigen tests caught an average of 648 positive cases a day in December and 644 positive cases a day in January.

Indoor dining could return to Chicago and Cook County on Saturday as those regions see improving coronavirus conditions.

Emily Garcia used to live in Arizona, so she has a Phoenix phone number. Her mom discovered that was part of the problem. Sophia's cell phone number is just one digit off from Arizona's COVID-19 vaccine helpline.

Individuals must have an appointment and must be eligible under state guidelines.

The state will send 53% of its weekly vaccine allocations to these hospitals, and 23% to mass vaccination events.

Illinois officials announced that indoor dining can resume in the Metro East.

By mid-March Illinois expects to receive 100,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine per day, on average, Pritzker said.

During the week of Feb. 21, more than 7,700 doses of COVID-19 vaccines were left over after mass vaccination events across the state, according to state data.

Her family has shunned interviews, but the college student has not been shy on social media. 

On a call with health care providers Tuesday afternoon, state officials projected more than 350,000 fewer doses during the week of April 12, a dip of almost 70 percent.

FEMA opened the clinic with promises of vaccinating up to 3,000 people a day, but only about 700 doses were administered Wednesday. 

Over the course of just two weeks, the city's seven-day average of new cases rose to 28, as of Thursday, from 20 on March 25.

Experts cautioned that some residents will likely be more hesitant to get the vaccine now.

Missouri's seven-day average of new confirmed COVID-19 cases rose to 423 on Thursday, the highest level since March 1, according to Post-Dispatch data.

As expected, a small number of vaccinated residents test positive for the coronavirus.

25 students have either confirmed or probable cases of the coronavirus, the district said.

The joint city-county ‘ReOpen STL’ plan was announced Monday by St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones and St. Louis County Executive Sam Page.

Still, experts note serious caveats: Restrictions are relaxing, people are beginning to gather, and the pace of vaccinations has slowed.

The study's senior author raised concern about the incidence of opioid prescriptions among patients who had previously had COVID-19.

Large-scale COVID-19 vaccine sites have slowed, and health officials say they are focusing more and more on targeted, small-scale events.

Facing slower demand, Missouri has begun fewer doses of COVID-19 vaccines from the federal government.

Task force leader Dr. Alex Garza became a near-constant in local media and on Facebook, where the task force aired its briefings.

Health officials are urging residents to get vaccinated ahead of the Independence Day holiday.

St. Louis-area residents have turned to the task force briefings for information about COVID-19, the vaccines, and new guidance from health authorities.

BJC will require employees to be fully vaccinated by Sept. 15. Washington University will require all faculty, staff and trainees to show proof of vaccination by August 30.

The department said the state is seeing a rising number of individuals contracting the Delta variant of COVID-19.

Missouri's average daily number of new COVID-19 cases has been on the rise since the start of June.

"This is evidence of a really robust immune response," said Dr. Rachel Presti, co-senior author and associate professor of medicine, in a statement.

SSM employees must be fully vaccinated by the end of September.

Even though vaccines are highly effective against COVID-19, some who are vaccinated may still contract the disease, health officials warned. 

The data, the authors wrote, suggest that "each person getting vaccinated has an impact."

"The only way out of this pattern, right now, is for people to get vaccinated," said BJC HealthCare's chief clinical officer.

The pandemic ‘is not over, by far. And get vaccinated,’ said Dr. George Turabelidze, a Missouri epidemiologist.

‘The increase in severe illness is projected to outpace hospital capacity,’ Greene County officials warn.

Dr. Clay Dunagan, chief clinical officer for BJC HealthCare, says even fully vaccinated individuals should wear a mask.

At the same time, the virus' rebound continued creeping closer to St. Louis, with health officials issuing "hot spot" advisories for three counties along the Interstate 44 corridor.

The St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force on Tuesday sent out a plea for all residents — vaccinated and unvaccinated — to return to wearing masks in public

Missouri reported 3,031 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, a daily case count not seen since mid-January.

The state is also working on a program that local public health agencies can apply to, which would allow them to offer up to $25 for each person who is vaccinated.

Masks will be required, including for those who are vaccinated; opponents at the state and local level are vowing to stop the renewed mandate.

Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed Wednesday for a temporary restraining order against the county mandate. 

Ascension set a Nov. 12 deadline for employees to get fully vaccinated.

On July 9, the number of COVID-19 patients in area hospitals surpassed 200. As of Friday, the number was 493.

As major U.S. companies roll out COVID-19 vaccine mandates, few St. Louis-area corporations are requiring vaccination.

The new policies apply to three hospitals: St. Joseph's Hospital in Breese, St. Joseph's Hospital in Highland, and Holy Family Hospital in Greenville.

Parson again urges Missourians to get vaccinated: ‘Now is the time to step up and take personal responsibility.’

The number of Missourians lost to COVID-19 reached 10,002 as the more infectious delta variant of the coronavirus continues to cause a surge.

ICU capacity is down to 15% statewide, and inpatient bed capacity is at 16%.

‘If I would have known that it was going to be as bad as it was for me, I probably would’ve already started the vaccination process.'

Only three states — Louisiana, Arkansas and Nevada — have higher rates, according to the CDC.

Demand has inflated hourly rates to sometimes double pre-pandemic levels. Costs for traveling nurses have risen, in some cases, to $200 per hour.

Missouri also announced that those with compromised immune systems are cleared to get COVID-19 vaccine booster shots.

St. Louis County health officials are preparing to ramp up vaccine clinic capacity, in case they need to begin administering booster doses to the public at large

Most of the dead were not vaccinated, health care officials say.

The policy does not apply to people visiting patients in outpatient settings, doctors' office or urgent cares.

Maryland Heights’ city council voted 6-3 on Thursday to require all employees to vaccinate against COVID-19 or face termination. 

Meanwhile, the state health department on Tuesday reported 170 additional deaths, bringing the total to 10,376.

Hospitalizations are still at high levels, the task force reported Tuesday.

The new Illinois safety protocols also include a fresh statewide mandate for masks to be worn indoors.

One site offering monoclonal antibody treatment will open Tuesday in north St. Louis, and another will open Wednesday at Mercy Hospital Jefferson.

The number of confirmed and probable cases rose by 3,325.

90% had an immune response, though it was one-third less than the general public. Researchers say results exceeded expectations.

Dr. Steven Brown, a virtual care physician, says cases of ivermectin toxicity have occurred at Mercy hospitals across the state.

Coronavirus spread among children ‘can cause another spike in our community at large, leading to more hospitalizations, and more deaths,’ Page warns.

Residents of Lincoln and Warren counties warned of quickly rising coronavirus cases.

Getting immunized should be a personal decision, Franklin County's presiding commissioner said.

COVID-19 vaccines have driven down case rates in nursing homes. But now the industry faces a crossroads.

The federal government was poised to pull the facility's Medicare and Medicaid agreements, but rescinded the notice a few days before the deadline.

The pandemic drove a 21.3% increase in the county’s mortality rate over 2019, and brought down the county’s average life expectancy rate dropped by 2.3 years, from 79 to 76.7. 

'We're not done with this wave of the pandemic yet. But we're certainly going in the right direction,' Dr. Clay Dunagan said Tuesday.

Average daily new virus hospitalizations in the area dropped past a key threshold this weekend, to 39, and have maintained at that level for four days. 

Missouri reports 694 patients in intensive care with COVID-19 — the highest yet in the pandemic.