After task force sets daily record for COVID patients, Winterfest cancels all events

The New Year’s Eve celebration at Winterfest at Keiner Plaza in downtown St. Louis has been canceled because of the rising number of COVID cases, the sponsors announced Friday.

“After careful consideration regarding the health and safety of everyone on our team – our guests, our employees and our exhibitors – we have made the difficult decision to cancel the remainder of 2021 Winterfest season, including the New Year’s Eve celebration and all activities,” the Gateway Arch Park Foundation said in a statement.

“Following guidance from the St. Louis City Health Department and the St. Louis Regional Pandemic Task Force amid increased and overwhelming concerns about the COVID-19 virus, we felt this was the best way to proceed during such an unprecedented global situation,” the group said.

The St. Louis Regional Pandemic Task Force said on Thursday it had logged a new record for daily hospital admissions of coronavirus patients with 169.

The three metro-east hospitals in the task force are affiliated with BJC HealthCare. They are Alton Memorial Hospital, Memorial Hospital Belleville and Memorial Hospital Shiloh.

Statistics for individual hospitals have not been released.

St. Clair County leaders on Wednesday said hospital beds in the county are filling up with COVID patients.

The hospitals reported 90 COVID patients on Wednesday. The record of 125 patients was set about a year ago.

This story was originally published December 31, 2021 at 2:45 PM.