Number of coronavirus cases in St. Louis County triple in one day
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in St. Louis County has tripled in one day, authorities announced Sunday.
As of 5 p.m. Sunday, the county’s health department had 55 positive cases - 38 more than reported the day before. The county also has one confirmed death, a woman in her 60s who had prior medical complications.
“Epidemiological investigations indicate there is clear evidence of community transmission in St. Louis County,” the news release from County Executive Sam Page said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, “community spread means people have been infected with the virus in an area, including some who are not sure how or where they became infected.”
The jump in the number of cases was reflective of testing becoming more available and results coming back, the release stated. The health department had fielded 330 calls on Saturday.
The release also stated that due to the potential volume of results becoming available, “the ability to provide data on each positive case will likely diminish moving forward.”
“As anticipated, the ability to provide reliable statistics pertaining to pending tests or tests sent for analysis has significantly diminished,” the release stated. “This is an encouraging step as more people are being tested by more health care professionals; however, it has an adverse effect on the accuracy of the numbers.”
St. Louis County announced the first confirmed case in the region on March 7, a woman in her 20s who had been traveling. Since then, positive cases have been in the age range from 20 years old to 69 years old, with six of those cases not being travel-related.
In St. Louis City, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases was 14, with three new cases announced Sunday.
In light of the spread of the virus, both Page and St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson enacted a “stay at home” order that began Monday at 12:01 a.m. in the county and 5 p.m. in the city.
The order allows only for essential trips, like to the grocery store, doctor’s office and pharmacy.
“You should stay home, but you will still be able to go to the pharmacy, take your cat to the vet, and make your doctor appointment,” Page tweeted on Friday. “County parks will remain open. In fact, you should get outside to take a jog or go on a hike. But remember: social distancing.”
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