The Jefferson County Health Department reported four news cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus this evening (April 25), bringing the total number of cases in the county to 253.
Among those 253 cases are at least some of the 101 cases at long-term care facilities in the county.
On Monday (April 20), 82 cases were reported at the Festus Manor Care Center, where 62 residents and 20 staff members have tested positive for the illness. Many of those cases are asymptomatic, the report said.
No update about the number of cases at Festus Manor has been provided since then.
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.
Brianne Zwiener, the Health Department’s communication specialist, said the Health Department would not name the other long-term facilities where more positive cases have been reported.
“Our team continues contact investigations and notifications regarding these cases,” the Health Department reported.
Kelley Vollmar, the Health Department director, said people need to continue efforts to prevent the spread of the disease.
“We are starting to see a larger increase in positive cases within our county,” Vollmar said. “It is imperative that we continue to do our part to reduce the impact of COVID-19 in our communities. Now is the time to be diligent about social-distancing measures.”
The Health Department said 149 of the county's positive cases are still active ones, which are the number of positive cases excluding COVID-19 deaths and those patients who have recovered.
The county has had three coronavirus-related deaths, including one at Festus Manor – a female resident in her 80s.
The county also has had 101 recovered cases, which means those people “met at least the minimum CDC criteria to be released from case management,” Vollmar said.
She said the “three minimum criteria are that they (patients diagnosed with the disease) are seven days past the onset of their symptoms, they have improved symptoms and they are fever free for at least 72 hours. This does not mean they are totally symptom free, only that their symptoms have improved.”
Vollmar said it’s important to also focus on the number of recovered cases.
According to the Health Department’s dashboard on its website, the county has had 104 male cases and 149 female cases.
The cases in the county include four people 10 or younger, 18 people in their 20s, 37 people in their 30s, 36 people in their 40s, 55 people in their 50s, 53 people in their 60s, 25 people in their 70s and 25 people in their 80s.
Cases in the county have been reported for the following ZIP codes: 29 cases and 12 recovered cases in 63010 (Arnold), 11 cases and four recovered cases in 63012 (Barnhart), eight cases and six recovered cases in 63016 (Cedar Hill), seven cases and three recovered cases in 63019 (Crystal City), 17 cases and eight recovered cases in 63020 (De Soto), two case and one recovered case in 63023 (Dittmer), four cases and four recovered cases in 63025 (Eureka), 21 cases and nine recovered cases in 63026 (Fenton), 87 cases and 11 recovered cases in 63028 (Festus), three cases and one recovered in 63048 (Herculaneum), 12 cases and three recovered cases in 63049 (High Ridge), nine cases and four recovered cases in 63050 (Hillsboro), 10 cases and six recovered cases in 63051 (House Springs), 19 cases and eight recovered cases in 63052 (Imperial), one case and one recovered case in 63069 (Pacific) and six cases and three recovered cases in 63070 (Pevely). Information is not available for seven cases.
In addition, the Health Department reported it has monitored a total of 439 cases, and of those, 307 are still actively being monitored and another 132 have been released from monitoring.
Zwiener said today that due to a formatting error, the number for the county’s monitored cases and cases released from monitoring were reported incorrectly on April 22, 23 and 24.
She 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.
On April 2, the Health Department announced the county’s first death related to the coronavirus – the Festus manor resident.
On April 5, the Health Department announced a second coronavirus-related death in the county. The resident was a male in his 40s, who had been hospitalized, according to the report.
The Health Department announced the third coronavirus-related death April 10 – a female in her 90s, who had been hospitalized, according to the report.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now recommends everyone wear a face mask while in a public setting, according to its website.
Both the state of Missouri and Jefferson County have issued stay-at-home orders that remain in effect through May 3.
As of today, Missouri had 6,826 positive cases of the coronavirus and 273 deaths related to the disease, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
The CDC reported the U.S. had 895,766 cases, including 2,937 probable cases and a total of 50,439 coronavirus-related deaths, including 5,402 probable 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,
