Missouri’s first ‘presumptive positive’ coronavirus case is in St. Louis County

The first “presumptive positive” case of the novel coronavirus in Missouri is in St. Louis County, officials said Saturday night.

It is the closest known case to the metro-east. All of the cases confirmed in Illinois have been in Chicago or Cook County. A patient at Memorial Hospital in Belleville was screened for coronavirus but did not have the disease.

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson announced that a St. Louis County woman is believed to have COVID-19, according to a test by the Missouri State Public Health Laboratory. It is considered a “presumptive positive” test at this point because it still needs to be confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

St. Louis County Executive Sam Page said it is “highly likely that it comes back confirmed.”

Parson, who made the announcement along with Page during a news conference in Clayton, said the patient is a woman in her 20s who was tested for coronavirus at Mercy Hospital in St. Louis.

The St. Louis County woman, who attends an out-of-state college, had been studying abroad in Italy and is in isolation at her home with family members.

The woman had a fever and respiratory issues, Parson said, and went to an area health provider with her symptoms.

As of Saturday, Parson said, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services had tested 26 people for COVID-19, including the young woman. Three of those tests remain in progress, Parson said.

Illinois officials have announced five confirmed cases, as well as a sixth presumptive positive case.

The first two Illinois residents to test positive for coronavirus in January have been treated and returned home, according to state officials. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, at a press conference Friday, described them as “fully recovered.”

Here is a breakdown of Illinois’ coronavirus cases as of Saturday:

▪ First case: Chicago woman in her 60s who traveled to Wuhan, China.

▪ Second: Chicago man in his 60s, the spouse of the first confirmed case. This was the first person-to-person spread of the virus in the United States, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.

▪ Third: Cook County man in his 70s. As of Friday, officials weren’t sure how the man contracted the disease.

▪ Fourth: Cook County woman in her 70s, the spouse of the third case.

▪ Fifth: Cook County man in his 20s who traveled to Italy.

▪ Sixth: Chicago woman in her 50s who was on a cruise ship with coronavirus.

Illinois has a hotline residents can call 24 hours a day, seven days a week to ask questions about the disease and to report potential cases. It is 1-800-889-3931.

The spread of coronavirus

Worldwide, the virus has infected more than 100,000 people and has killed more than 3,400 people. It emerged in more than 90 countries and has edged into more U.S. states, including Florida, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Minnesota and Nebraska.

The number of U.S. coronavirus cases swelled to 400, with cases in about half of the states. Indiana, Minnesota, Nebraska and Pennsylvania also recently reported their first cases, The Associated Press reported. The total U.S. death toll has reached 19.

From the beginning, public health officials worried that people would panic when the virus hit close to home.

Without a vaccine available yet, you are a good line of defense in controlling the spread of the virus in communities, officials say.

The CDC calls them non-pharmaceutical interventions — NPIs, those things, other than taking medicine, people can do to help slow the spread.

Mostly, these are the same steps the CDC recommends for preventing the spread of the flu and the common cold.

▪ Wash your hands. Scrub them with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. One way to keep track: Sing “Happy Birthday” twice.

▪ Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer if soap and water are not available.

▪ Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze, or direct it into the crook of your elbow instead of into your hand.

▪ Avoid touching your face — your eyes, nose and mouth.

▪ Avoid sick people, and stay home when you are sick, which experts know won’t be possible for everyone.

▪ Keep your environment clean. Wipe down door handles, counters, workstations, phones and other surfaces that are touched frequently, especially if someone gets sick. Experts say the virus can be killed by most household cleaners and, for now, there’s no reason to go above and beyond routine cleaning, the CDC says.

The CDC currently advises businesses to encourage sick employees to stay home. It also recommends that employees who show up with signs of an acute respiratory illness — they’re coughing or short of breath — or who get sick at work “be separated from other employees and be sent home immediately.”

The CDC also recommends that businesses not require employees to get a doctor’s note to validate their illness or return to work because health care providers “may be extremely busy and not able to provide such documentation in a timely way.”

Prepare an emergency plan

If you don’t already have one, create an emergency plan for your family.

The Department of Homeland Security has a suggested plan posted on its “pandemic” web page, which recommends that before a pandemic is declared you:

▪ Check to make sure you have a “continuous supply” of your prescription drugs. There are concerns that the outbreak might make supplies of medical products and drugs — for both humans and animals — hard to come by, especially those made with ingredients that come from China, the epicenter of the emergency. The Food and Drug Administration is working with manufacturers to mitigate shortages.

▪ Make sure you have nonprescription drugs and other health supplies ready, including cough and cold medicines, vitamins and pain relievers.

The CDC also recommends asking your employer if it’s possible to work from home if schools and day cares should shut down. If that’s not possible, talk to other family members, neighbors and others to make alternative child care plans. State health officials have said they will leave decisions to close schools up to local authorities.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This story was originally published March 7, 2020 at 9:39 PM.