Coronavirus Coverage by Sarah Fentem

Eight animals in the zoo’s Big Cat Country habitat likely caught the coronavirus from a human carrier, zoo officials said. The cats had all received the COVID-19 vaccine and are expected to make a full recovery.

Many parents hurried to get their children the COVID-19 vaccine earlier this month after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approved it for ages 5 through 11. St. Louis area health officials say there's more than enough to go around.

A Missouri judge has barred local health departments from issuing orders to protect people during the coronavirus pandemic.

A federal judge in St. Louis on Monday temporarily barred the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services from requiring health care workers in Missouri and nine other states to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

The case was detected in a St. Louis resident who had recently traveled within the United States, according to the St. Louis Department of Health.

The daily number of new coronavirus cases in the St. Louis region is reaching a level not seen since January. Hospitals also are reporting an increase in COVID-19 patients.

St. Louis-area testing sites are reporting a spike in demand before the holiday weekend, and clinic operators say it may be difficult for residents to find an appointment.

The number of people testing positive for the virus in St. Louis has more than tripled since last month, St. Louis health officials said Wednesday. More than 14% of coronavirus tests are coming back positive.

Health workers are treating more than 1,020 people with COVID-19 inside St. Louis hospitals, the highest number of inpatient hospitalizations since the pandemic began. The task force reported 61 patients 18 and younger are hospitalized with the disease.

St. Louis hospitals are canceling procedures, shuffling an overburdened workforce and pleading with the public to wear masks and get vaccinated as they fill with COVID-19 patients.