St. Louis County Department of Public Health COVID-19 Update
March 18, 2020
Today, as of 3:00 PM, the St. Louis County Department of Public Health (DPH) has:
- Five positive cases. The confirmed case today is a 30-40 year old and it is travel related. The nature of the travel, whether domestic or international, is still under investigation.
- 32 tests have returned negative results.
- The St. Louis County Department of Health fielded a total of 648 calls on 3/17/2020.
As anticipated, the ability to provide reliable statistics pertaining to pending tests or tests sent for analysis has significantly diminished. This is an encouraging step as more people are being tested by more health care professionals; however, it has an adverse effect on the accuracy of the numbers. Additionally, the statistics provided are not reflective of the epidemic, rather they are reflective of the information now available.
As of March 14th, all presumed positive tests will be considered confirmed positive. The Missouri State Laboratory will no longer require presumed positive tests be sent to the Centers for Disease Control for that additional level of confirmation.
Social Distancing – Quarantine – Isolation
Understanding the differences in social distancing, quarantine, and isolation is vital to the educating the public as we continue to face uncertainty.
Social distancing should be used by those who are not sick when in public or at work. The goal of social distancing is to reduce face-to-face contact and reduce the spread of the disease.
Quarantine should be used by people who may have been exposed but are not sick. The person could have the virus in their body even if they do not have symptoms. They need to stay away from others until they find out definitively.
Isolation is used for people suspected or confirmed to have COVID-19. The goal of this is to keep the person from infecting others.
Please see the attached image created by the St. Louis County Department of Public Health and disseminate the image as you see appropriate.
Residents experiencing symptoms of fever, cough, and difficulty breathing, should contact the St. Louis County Health Line at (314)615-2660 with their concerns. Those who have reason to believe they have encountered a person infected with COVID-19 should also utilize that number.
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services hotline can be reached at (877) 435-8411.
St. Louis County has created a website dedicated to the dissemination of information relating to COVID-19, www.stlcorona.com. Please visit that website or those belonging to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) or the World Health Organization (WHO) for the most current and reputable information available.
