Ok friends, here's what we know about the coronavirus case in St. Louis County: A woman in her 20s just returned from studying abroad in Italy. She recently flew back into O'Hare airport in Chicago, stayed with friends for a few days there, and then took the train back to STL.
She started having respiratory problems and a fever after she came home. As soon as she had symptoms, she isolated herself from other people and called the @StLCountyDOH coronavirus hotline.
Her symptoms and travel history qualified her for coronavirus testing. She went to Mercy Hospital St. Louis, where local officials had already worked with hospital staff to make sure she was kept isolated from other patients and treated in a pressurized room to keep others safe.
Her symptoms weren't serious enough to merit hospitalization, so she and her family are at home and not going anywhere. She'll be in isolation for two weeks after she doesn't have symptoms and is expected to fully recover.
She's not rare -- doctors say 80 percent of people with covid-19 have symptoms that don't require hospitalization. This is a good thing to remember if you start to feel scared about coronavirus.
OK, but the Gov. said this is the first "presumptive positive case," what does that mean?
It's lab-speak for: "We did one test at the state level that came back positive, but we need to have the CDC repeat the test and confirm the results. That should happen in 5-ish days."
It's lab-speak for: "We did one test at the state level that came back positive, but we need to have the CDC repeat the test and confirm the results. That should happen in 5-ish days."
In the meantime everyone is treating this case as if it's "officially confirmed" because health officials are confident this person indeed has COVID-19.
The big question: Are Missourians more at risk than they were yesterday? STL County Exec Sam Page and State Health Director Randall Williams says this is exactly what they expected to see: A travel-related case that wasn't caught from "community spread" in the state.
That means they still don't think the virus is rampant around the state. But it IS a virus, and that could change. It's important to note that DHSS has only tested a couple dozen people in TOTAL, because of restrictions on whom can receive a test.
So it's difficult to see where it is without widespread testing. There will be more tests available in the coming days, and Dr. Williams says they'll be commercially available this week. (That means labs like Quest will be able to run their own w/o going through the state lab.)
I think one of the big takeaways from yesterday's news is how well the patient handled her illness. She educated herself, kept herself away from others and called ahead to a health center so they could prepare. Everyone should follow her example to stay safe!
Bottom line: Stay away from people if you're sick, use good public health practices and judgment.
Ok that's it for now! Right now I'm keeping an eye out for how the state and local health departments will spend the billions the federal government announced for emergency covid response.
Read ALL our coverage here: news.stlpublicradio.org/term/coronavir…
Everyone at STLPR has been working (literally) around the clock to make sure we report this accurately and responsibly.
Everyone at STLPR has been working (literally) around the clock to make sure we report this accurately and responsibly.
