ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — St. Louis County Executive Dr. Sam Page held a COVID-19 briefing Monday morning, a practice he plans to do a few times a week.
He talked about the three crises that have come out of the pandemic: public health, humanitarian and economic. Page said the county will be eligible for about $175 million in federal relief to help address the crises.
Page also discussed testing, saying St. Louis County is competing with counties all over the country to purchase more testing.
"Three, perhaps all four, of our main hospital systems have the ability to test right here in St. Louis," Page said.
As of Saturday, the county is reporting a total of 1,524 confirmed cases of COVID-19. A total of 42 people in the county have died from the virus.
As COVID-19 cases continue to rise, St. Louis County is increasing measures to slow the spread of the virus.
Recently the St. Louis County Health Department asked the county council for $76,000 for two refrigerated trailers for the medical examiner’s office.
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson also announced Wednesday that a Florissant hotel is being transformed into an "alternate care site" for St. Louis area hospitals in case the coronavirus pandemic overwhelms current facilities.
"There’s some minor remodeling taking place to make that an overflow for our hospital systems," Page said. "It’s for patients who are not critically ill."
Page said he was "impressed" by the community's response, saying people are generally doing a good job of practicing social distancing.
"There has been a lot of discussion in our community about enforcement, but it’s a rare occurrence," he said.
Page will stream the briefings on his official Facebook page.
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