Coronavirus

People in St. Louis and St. Louis County need to comply with orders to wear masks, said Dr. Alex Garza, head of the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force. But those in surrounding counties also should use them, he said.

Some voting rights advocates say St. Louis-area election authorities aren’t doing enough to accommodate absentee voters with physical disabilities.

The St. Louis County Council has rejected an effort to place limits on the length of states of emergency and public health orders without its approval.

After only 2½ weeks, Illinois is reinstituting COVID-19 restrictions on bars and restaurants in the Metro East starting Wednesday. Bars and restaurants are again barred from serving guests indoors, and they will have to cut service at 11 p.m. each night. The establishments also must require reservations and space tables at least six feet apart. Gatherings are limited to the lesser of 25 people or 25% of a room’s overall capacity.

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.

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.

Missouri inmates and criminal justice advocates insist that moving prisoners during a pandemic is risky and likely led to an increasing number of coronavirus cases this summer. But corrections officials say they’ve implemented new policies, including testing, to safely transfer people between facilities.

The St. Louis County Board of Elections announced Wednesday it will publish polling site wait times online throughout the day this election. County leaders say the interactive map will help reduce crowding at polling sites and help voters plan ahead of time.

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.

Medical providers braced for a wave in eating disorder cases when the pandemic first took hold in early spring. What they didn’t expect was for that surge of cases to continue lingering through fall.