ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — A second person in St. Louis County has tested “presumptive positive” for COVID-19, county health officials confirmed Friday evening.
The patient is a St. Louis County resident between the age of 50 and 60 years old. They recently traveled within the U.S., officials confirmed.
This second case in the county is not related to the first case, the health department said. They have not released any further details.
The St. Louis County Department of Public Health will directly contact anyone who the patient said they’ve been in close contact with and might be at risk of exposure.
This case is one of the two new “presumptive positive” cases Missouri Gov. Mike Parson confirmed during a news conference Friday evening. This brings the state’s total of “presumed positive” or confirmed positive cases to four.
The cases are called “presumed positive” because the tests were not FDA approved, but the results are being treated as a positive result. The test was processed at a health lab in Missouri, which received CDC approval to run COVID-19 tests. However, the CDC must certify the results at its labs before declaring a patient has tested positive.
Missouri’s first case has been confirmed by the CDC.
That case also involves a St. Louis County resident. The woman in her 20s was studying abroad in Italy and recently returned home due to the outbreak of coronavirus in that country. The woman is under quarantine at her home in Ladue with her parents and sister.
5 On Your Side confirmed Friday with the family’s lawyer that the woman’s father tested negative for COVID-19. No other information about the woman’s other family members has been released.
On Thursday, Gov. Parson confirmed a patient in Springfield tested positive after recently traveling to Austria. That person is in their 20s and is in quarantine at home. They are expected to recover.
In a press release, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services announced Missouri’s fourth case is a person in Henry County, which is about an hour and half south of Kansas City.
No other information has been released about that case.
Gov. Parson has confirmed 94 people in Missouri have been tested for COVID-19, with four of those tests coming back positive.
As of Friday night, St. Louis County has 10 test results pending. All of the tests were sent out between Wednesday and Friday.
Resources for residents:
For general questions and guidance, call the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services hotline at 877-435-8411 or dial 2-1-1. The hotline is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
St. Louis County residents who are experiencing symptoms of a fever, cough or difficulty breathing and have reason to believe were in contact with someone infected with COVID-19 should call the St. Louis County Health Line at 314-615-2660. This phone number is only for county residents experiencing the symptoms listed above.
St. Louis County residents also can use stlcorona.com.
Mercy is opening a drive-thru testing center at its virtual care center in Chesterfield amid coronavirus concerns. The test collection site is exclusively for patients who have a fever of at least 100.4 degrees and respiratory symptoms including cough or shortness of breath. Anyone seeking a test must call Mercy’s COVID-19 Clinical Support Line at 314-251-0500 before arriving.
St. Charles County launched a website that keeps track of coronavirus cases in the area.
MU Health Care announced it’ll offer $10 video visits for patients who wish to be seen virtually or screened for COVID-19. For more information, click here.
