Missouri officials have announced the state’s first presumptive positive case of the coronavirus, known as COVID-19.
The case involves a female in her 20s who lives in St. Louis County and recently returned from Italy, according to a written statement from Gov. Mike Parson’s office.
As of Sunday, there had been 9,172 cases of the coronavirus in Italy, according to the World Health Organization.
Worldwide, there were 113,672 cases of the coronavirus and 4,012 deaths related to the disease as of Sunday, WHO reported.
The St. Louis County woman’s presumptive positive result means the Missouri State Public Health Laboratory tested the patient and it was positive for the coronavirus. However, the diagnosis is not considered official until the federal Centers for Disease Control confirms it.
As of Monday, no cases had been reported in Jefferson County, said Kelley Vollmar, director of the county’s Health Department.
“At this point in time, I would still consider Jefferson County at low risk,” she said.
Vollmar said Jefferson County residents have a higher risk of contracting the flu at this point, adding that it is wise to take measures to avoid getting either the flu or the coronavirus.
“Wash your hands with soap and water,” she said. “Cover your cough when you sneeze with the crook of your elbow, stay home if you’re sick. This is really important for individuals and for businesses.”
St. Louis County Executive Sam Page said the woman believed to have the coronavirus contacted the St. Louis County Department of Public Health on March 5 and quarantined herself at home.
Page said Health Department officials had given the family instructions about quarantining themselves and been in daily contact with the family.
However, on March 8, Page announced the patient’s father and sister attended a Villa Duchesne Oak Hill School father-daughter dance, held at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Clayton. The family’s attorney has said the Health Department instructions about quarantine were unclear.
As of Tuesday, there had been 647 cases of the coronavirus in the U.S., stretching across 36 states and Washington, D.C., according to the CDC.
In addition, there had been 25 deaths linked to the coronavirus in the U.S., the CDC reported.
Vollmar said she expects to eventually see cases of the coronavirus in Jefferson County.
“We will likely see cases in Jefferson County; that would not surprise me,” she said. “The reason I think that there’s so much concern about it is because it’s a new virus; people haven’t had a chance to develop immunity to it yet. We don’t have a vaccine.
“So, the normal things we would recommend folks to do for the flu, like get an immunization, are not available at this time. So, I think that makes it a little scarier for the public.”
However, Vollmar suggested residents remain calm and educate themselves about the coronavirus.
“The CDC has a fantastic resource on their website that has specific information for individuals and how they can protect themselves at home, how they can prepare at home,” she said.
Symptoms for the coronavirus, which may range from mild to severe, include fever, cough and shortness of breath. Symptoms may appear two to 14 days after exposure, according to the CDC.
Those who think they may have symptoms should call their health care provider or their health department, officials reported.
If Jefferson County sees a positive case of the coronavirus, the Health Department would handle it like any other disease, said Jeana Vidacak, public health preparedness coordinator for the department.
“Even though it’s new, it’s the exact same process that we do every day with all kinds of other different pathogens,” she said. “For us, it really is normal operations. I mean, this is new; we’re learning about it as we go, but our process is the same for any other investigation we do.”
Vidacak said information about a positive test result of any disease, like measles or the coronavirus, are reported to the Health Department by local providers or by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
“Our role is to look at that case and kind of go out from there to see who that person had contact with,” she said.
Vidacak said the Health Department has a team of three people who are available 24 hours a day if a positive case were reported.
The team includes Vidacak, epidemiologist Dylan Steigerwald and public health investigative nurse Tara Edmond.
“Our role as public health, in any sort of outbreak, we do investigation and surveillance,” she said. “So, we do this on a daily basis with all kinds of different diseases.”