SUMMARY

SUMMARY
• Missouri is in the red zone for cases, indicating 101 or more new cases per 100,000 population last week,
with the 15th highest rate in the country. Missouri is in the orange zone for test positivity, indicating a rate
between 8.0% and 10.0%, with the 10th highest rate in the country.
• Missouri has seen stability in new cases and stability in test positivity over the last week.
• The following three counties had the highest number of new cases over the last 3 weeks: 1. Jackson
County, 2. St. Louis County, and 3. Greene County. These counties represent 29.6% of new cases in
Missouri.
• 80% of all counties in Missouri have moderate or high levels of community transmission (yellow, orange,
or red zones), with 47% having high levels of community transmission (red zone).
• During the week of Sep 28 – Oct 4, 20% of nursing homes had at least one new resident COVID-19 case,
34% had at least one new staff COVID-19 case, and 7% had at least one new resident COVID-19 death.
• Missouri had 159 new cases per 100,000 population in the last week, compared to a national average of
100 per 100,000.
• Current staff deployed from the federal government as assets to support the state response are: 69 to
support operations activities from FEMA; 5 to support operations activities from ASPR; 1 to support
epidemiology activities from CDC; 2 to support operations activities from CDC; 28 to support medical
activities from VA; and 1 to support operations activities from VA.
• Between Oct 3 – Oct 9, on average, 150 patients with confirmed COVID-19 and 217 patients with suspected
COVID-19 were reported as newly admitted each day to hospitals in Missouri. An average of greater than
95% of hospitals reported either new confirmed or new suspected COVID patients each day during this
period.
RECOMMENDATIONS
• We have included cases, test positivity, and deaths by month in the back of your packet to show the time
sequence in Missouri and the country as a whole. These demonstrate the impact of comprehensive
mitigation efforts when implemented effectively and that partial or incomplete mitigation leads to
prolonged community spread and increased fatalities.
• Community spread continues in Missouri in both rural and urban areas. Mitigation efforts should increase
to include mask wearing, physical distancing, hand hygiene, and avoiding crowds in public and social
gatherings in private to stop the increasing spread among residents of Missouri.
• There continue to be severe outbreaks among nursing home residents and staff; common sense
mitigation efforts can prevent transmission among the vulnerable populations.
• With the rise in cases among individuals 65 years and older, provide information through senior citizen
networks to alert them to take precautionary measures.
• Use the Abbott BinaxNOW for surveillance testing in the same populations weekly. This will provide
information on local transmission changes. Establish and deploy targeted testing teams (not drivethrough testing) who can be rapidly deployed to communities based on signals from surveillance testing.
Populations for surveillance can include K-12 teachers, fire and police force, and nursing home and
correctional facility staff.
• Antivirals and antibodies have the most impact when used early in hospital admissions (within 48 hours).
Ensure hospitals are effectively administering these medications to prevent morbidity and mortality.
• Work with university students to keep cases low, with the goal of low transmission in preparation for
Thanksgiving. Implement antibody testing to understand the fraction of students who have been infected
and plan for spring semester accordingly. Test all university students before dismissing them for
Thanksgiving.
• Specific, detailed guidance on community mitigation measures can be found on the CDC website.