The Jefferson County Health Department reported two new COVID-19 cases this evening (May 18), bringing the total positive cases in the county to 330.
Health Department officials say it’s important for residents to continue taking measures to prevent the spread of the virus, including practicing social distancing, frequently washing hands with soap and water or 60 percent alcohol-based hand sanitizer, wearing a face covering in public, staying home when you are sick, and covering your cough and sneeze.
Long-term care facilities
Of the 330 cases in the county, 130 are at long-term care facilities, and the majority of those have been at Festus Manor Care Center, where at least 62 residents and 25 staff members have tested positive for the coronavirus.
In addition, at least five of the county’s 14 COVID-19-related deaths have been residents at Festus Manor.
The Health Department would not name the other long-term care facilities where there are cases.
Also, the Health Department said staff members at long-term care facilities who do not live in Jefferson County are included in the number of cases reported for the long-term facilities, but are not included in the total case count for the county.
County coronavirus stats
As of today, 101 of the county’s cases were still active ones, which are the number of positive cases excluding COVID-19 deaths and those patients who have been released from isolation, according to the Health Department.
The Health Department said 215 people had been released from isolation, which means they had recovered enough to be released from case management.
The minimum criteria for patients diagnosed with the disease to be released from case management is that they “are seven days past the onset of their symptoms, they have improved symptoms and they are fever free for at least 72 hours,” Vollmar said.
The Health Department also reported that 42 county residents have been hospitalized due to the coronavirus.
Vollmar said in a Facebook Live video on Tuesday (April 12) that 3,698 Jefferson County residents had been tested for the coronavirus, and 310 were positive, which is about an 8.4 percent positive rate.
She said there’s a delay of one to two weeks for test results to be reported.
According to the Health Department’s dashboard on its website, the county has had 139 male cases and 191 female cases.
The cases in the county include six people 10 or younger, 28 people in their 20s, 46 people in their 30s, 47 people in their 40s, 73 people in their 50s, 65 people in their 60s, 33 people in their 70s, 31 people in their 80s and one unknown case.
The Health Department also reported that cases in the county have been reported for the following ZIP codes: 40 cases and 31 recovered cases in 63010 (Arnold), 12 cases and 12 recovered cases in 63012 (Barnhart), 20 cases and nine recovered cases in 63016 (Cedar Hill), nine cases and seven recovered cases in 63019 (Crystal City), 23 cases and 18 recovered cases in 63020 (De Soto), two cases and one recovered case in 63023 (Dittmer), four cases and four recovered cases in 63025 (Eureka), 27 cases and 21 recovered cases in 63026 (Fenton), 104 cases and 29 recovered cases in 63028 (Festus), four cases and three recovered in 63048 (Herculaneum), 14 cases and 11 recovered cases in 63049 (High Ridge), 13 cases and 10 recovered cases in 63050 (Hillsboro), 17 cases and 11 recovered cases in 63051(House Springs), 27 cases and 23 recovered cases in 63052 (Imperial), one case and one recovered case in 63069 (Pacific) and nine cases and seven recovered cases in 63070 (Pevely). Information is not available for four cases.
In addition, the Health Department reported today that it has monitored a total of 535 cases, and of those, 266 are still actively being monitored and another 269 have been released from monitoring.
Zwiener said a person who is being actively monitored has been in contact with a positive case, but is not showing symptoms. She said people who are actively monitored are quarantined to their homes and must take their temperature twice a day for 14 days.
Zwiener said a person released from monitoring has completed the 14 days without a temperature or symptoms.
State, U.S. stats
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now recommends everyone wear a face mask while in public, according to its website.
As of today, Missouri had 10,945 positive cases of the coronavirus and 605 deaths related to the disease, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
The CDC reported the U.S. had 1,480,349 cases, which includes 13,284 new cases and a total of 89,407 coronavirus-related deaths, including 698 new deaths, as of today.
Anyone who shows coronavirus symptoms or who has questions should call the Missouri State Hotline at 877-435-8411 or the Mercy Clinical Support Line at 314-251-0500. For more information about COVID-19, visit jeffcohealth.org/coronavirus-covid19.
