Coronavirus Coverage by Sarah Fentem

The region’s hospitals could soon be overwhelmed with patients as more people are admitted to the hospital with the coronavirus, health officials said Monday. An average of 342 patients with confirmed coronavirus cases are in hospitals in the region’s four largest health care systems each day, and nearly 50 people with the virus are being admitted daily.

Regional St. Louis hospitals are bearing some of the burden of the rise in rural coronavirus cases. Doctors are worried that could strain capacity as the virus starts spreading more in St. Louis and St. Louis County.

Hospitals in St. Louis have reached or exceeded patient capacity limits, public health officials said Monday. If more people don't wear masks and keep their distance from others, doctors say there won't be enough staff to take care of coronavirus patients who need help.

Fewer than 2% of people in Missouri who have tested positive for the virus died as of October, compared with more than 6% in May, according to data from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. Doctors say younger people with healthier immune systems are getting sick.

St. Louis University and Washington University are testing coronavirus vaccines through large-scale clinical trials. To determine if the vaccines are effective, researchers are looking for people who are likely to get sick.

A St. Charles County election supervisor had tested positive for the coronavirus on Friday but ignored medical advice to stay home for two weeks and worked at a polling site on Tuesday. The worker has since died, but officials haven't disclosed the cause of death.

The St. Louis region continues to see a rising number of coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. Doctors say they worry that winter and the holiday season will bring people indoors and spread the virus faster. But scientists say they are learning more about the virus and how people can stay safe. In this edition of Curious Louis, St. Louis Public Radio reporters Sarah Fentem and Shahla Farzan talked to experts about what’s in store for the first winter of the coronavirus pandemic.

Hospitals in the St. Louis region admitted nearly 100 coronavirus patients on Wednesday. It’s the second day in a row hospitals in the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force have set a record for daily admissions.

The St. Louis region could see renewed government restrictions to stop the spread of the coronavirus if the number of new cases doesn’t go down within a week, St. Louis and St. Louis County leaders said Monday.

St. Louis County is asking residents who test positive for the coronavirus to call people they may have come into contact with. Public health employees have become overwhelmed by new cases, County Executive Sam Page said Monday.