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Official: St. Louis Area in 'Crisis Mode' as Virus Surges

St. Louis County Executive Sam Page says the county is in crisis mode as COVID-19 cases continues to rise and hospitals strain to treat patients.

During a briefing Monday, Page repeated earlier warnings that the area's hospitals could run out of intensive care beds sometime this week. He also said the National Guard could be called in to help hospitals deal with the overload of patients.

On Sunday, area hospitals said they were using 77% of the total staffed beds and 89% of their intensive care beds.

Page said the region will be severely tested during the next few weeks and urged residents to follow safety protocols.