Cape hospitals dealing with rising COVID numbers

The number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized at Southeast Hospital and Saint Francis Medical Center has increased by more than 50% in the last week and a half, according to data released Thursday by both facilities.

Saint Francis, which reopened its COVID care unit last week, reported a total of 39 coronavirus inpatients as of early Thursday afternoon, up from 25 just 10 days ago. Of those 39 patients, only two had been fully vaccinated while four others had been partially vaccinated against COVID-19.

Twelve of the Saint Francis patients were classified as being in "ICU status" and 18 were on ventilators, none of whom had been vaccinated. As of Thursday, coronavirus patients occupied more than one out of every 10 beds in the 306-bed medical center, or roughly 13%.

At Southeast Hospital, the number of COVID-19 inpatients increased from 22 about 10 days ago to 32 as of Thursday morning. Twenty of those 32 patients, including six who were fully or partially vaccinated, were on medical units while the remaining 12 were in the hospital's intensive care unit. Of those dozen ICU patients, none had been vaccinated.

Both hospitals are promoting resources about vaccinations and vaccination clinics -- including third vaccinations for qualified people with immunocompromised conditions and booster shots -- on their websites, www.sehealth.org and www.sfmc.net.

COVID-19 vaccines "are safe and effective and offer us a way out of this pandemic and the more contagious variants that will likely continue to develop," said Dr. Matt Janzow, vice president and chief medical officer at SoutheastHEALTH.

As of Monday, there were 2,373 COVID-19 patients in Missouri hospitals, up from 1,631 a week earlier, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care beds increased by nearly 200 over that same period, from 477 to 665. The number of patients on ventilators statewide also increased, from 265 to 376.

In Southeast Missouri, the state health department reported there were 124 hospitalized COVID-19 patients as of Monday, up from 77 just six days earlier and the number of the region's patients on ventilators rose from 23 to 39, reducing the percentage of available ventilators in Southeast Missouri from 70% to 61%.

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