Coronavirus Coverage by Sarah Fentem

If hospitals are still treating a large number of coronavirus patients when the weather cools and the flu begins circulating, they could be overwhelmed by an influx of additional sick people. Hospitals typically see a large increase in hospitalizations during the winter months from people sick with influenza and other respiratory diseases.

Arch grounds and the museum underneath have been open for months, but visitors have been disappointed that they weren’t able to take the tram ride to the top. That changed this week when the Arch officials started allowing people to go up, but capacity is greatly reduced.

Officials in St. Louis and St. Louis County eased coronavirus-related rules limiting youth sports Wednesday, allowing young athletes to resume practices and some to return to competitive play.

As of Sunday. 13, the bistate region has seen more than 1,500 deaths from COVID-19 since the first person tested positive in March. Doctors say they’ve become better at treating cases of COVID-19 and preventing its spread, but that life will not go back to a pre-pandemic “normal” until at least the end of 2021.

For months, doctors and public health experts have warned that the coronavirus pandemic could get worse as temperatures drop in the fall and more people head indoors to socialize. St. Louis University public health professor Enbal Shacham discussed the best ways to socialize while staying safe with St. Louis Public Radio.

Doctors at Washington University are investigating whether the commonly used measles, mumps and rubella vaccine could protect people against getting sick with the coronavirus. The large international study is based on the concept of trained immunity – the idea that live vaccines can turbocharge the immune system.

St. Louis County school districts are sending some elementary school children back to the classroom after health officials said young children account for far fewer new coronavirus cases than teenagers. Early childhood researchers warn that virtual learning can harm the emotional health and education of young students more than that of older students.

The number of fatal opioid overdoses in St. Louis and St. Louis County in the first seven months of this year is 32% higher than in the same period in 2019. Black men in the region saw a 56% increase in the number of overdose deaths.

Contact tracers track down and tell potentially infectious people to isolate themselves to keep others from getting sick with the coronavirus. But the effort takes more than a phone and a list of names to be successful.

A YouGov and St. Louis University poll asked 931 likely Missouri voters whether they would receive a coronavirus vaccine if it were free and approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration. Fifty-one percent of respondents said they “likely” or “positively” would get the vaccine, compared to 70% who would get a flu shot.