Missouri up to 24 coronavirus cases as state’s first death is reported in Boone County
The number of people who have tested positive for coronavirus in Missouri has jumped to 24, Gov. Mike Parson said in an evening news conference Wednesday.
The announcement came hours after the state learned that a patient in their 60s died Wednesday morning in Boone County — the first COVID-19-related death in Missouri.
The majority of the cases found in the state have been “travel-related,” Parson said, though the latest cases announced Wednesday are still under investigation.
No further information has been released about where the new cases have been found or the age and gender of the patients.
Parson announced Wednesday that the state plans to set up mobile testing sites around Missouri. More information is expected to be released later on the temporary testing facilities.
The governor also signed an executive order to allow state agencies to waive or suspend certain regulations and statutes in response to the outbreak.
More than 300 people have been tested for the novel coronavirus through the state’s public health laboratory and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to statistics provided by the state’s Department of Health and Senior Services.
Randall Williams, the agency’s director, estimated that about 60 to 70 tests were being conducted per day and the state continues to receive more supplies for additional tests. He said he expects that the agency would stop reporting its daily testing numbers as commercial laboratories ramp up their own efforts. Of the cases reported in the state Wednesday, two have been found through a “commercial or other” laboratories.
It was unclear Wednesday evening if the 24 COVID-19 cases announced by the governor included two physicians at Washington University’s School of Medicine in St. Louis. The physicians, who tested positive for the virus, were not currently working with patients and were quarantined, the university’s chancellor, Andrew Martin, said in a letter to the community Wednesday.
Two Washington University undergraduate students who had been participating in a study abroad program in Denmark also tested positive, the chancellor stated. They had not returned to campus and were in quarantine out of state, Martin said.
During the Wednesday evening news conference live-steamed by the governor’s office, Parson emphasized that residents should avoid unnecessary travel, stay home and practice social distancing to prevent illness.
“You’re going to hear that and hear it again, but if the people of Missouri want to protect themselves and protect their families and their loved ones, it’ll be through social distancing and using common sense and taking on personal responsibilities,” Parson said. “Those have to take place for us to beat the coronavirus.”
This story was originally published March 18, 2020 at 7:25 PM.
