By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
The COVID-19 pandemic is by no means over, but the city of St. Joseph and Buchanan County seem to be trending in a positive direction in several critical areas.
Dr. Gary Clapp, a math and science professor at Missouri Western State University, has also been an advisor for the St. Joseph city council during the pandemic, showing them graphs and data to help them set city policy.
Clapp says the number of new infections and hospitalizations have been steadily dropping over the last few weeks.
"We're just continuing to go down," he said. "The daily average of new cases has dropped up from way in the 70s to 25 or less even. Everything is trending in the right direction right now."
As of Tuesday, 156 people in Buchanan County have died due to COVID-19 complications for a daily death average of less than one since the pandemic began last March.
Clapp says the death rate has fluctuated throughout that time.
The hospitalization rate had been going up in late fall, with Mosaic Life Care reporting 94 COVID-19 patients in late November. There were still 86 COVID patients in the Mosaic system on Jan. 5.
As of Tuesday, that figure dropped to 29.
Clapp says the key to fewer hospitalizations locally is the availability of infusion treatments - chiefly Bamlanivimab and Regeneron. Remdesivir has also proven to be a successful treatment.
"This infusion therapy they're using, Bamlanivimab and Remdesivir, both are showing extremely good signs of slowing if not stopping the progression of the disease," Clapp said, "before your lungs fill up (with fluid) and turn to mush and you can't breathe."
Another data point in Buchanan County that's encouraging - the COVID test positivity rate. After being above 20 percent in late fall and early winter, the St. Joseph Health Department reports Monday that it has fallen to 8.9 percent.
"If we look back to where we were just 30 days ago, we've made tremendous progress," Dr. Clapp said. "But before we jump out and say summer is the target (for getting back to normal), let's take a look at the next 30 days and reevaluate and do that again in 60 days."
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