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Since the beginning of June, Perry County has seen a rapid increase in the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19, rising from 62 on June 1 to 167 as of July 6, an increase of 169.4 percent, numbers which include the first reported case involving an infant and the county’s first COVID-related death — both of which were reported in the past nine days — along with a number of cases identified among residents at a local nursing home.
As of Monday, the Perry County Health Department reported a total of 77 active cases, including three hospitalizations — one of which was on a ventilator — along with 88 recoveries and one death.
In response to the local increase in positive cases despite a lack of increased local testing, the health department last week issued a public notice strongly discouraging attendance at large social gatherings, a move that prompted the cancellation of a number of scheduled community events, ranging from the monthly Cruise-In to the already postponed Mayfest, the second annual Heroes for Kids Comic Con and, for the first time in its history, the 120th annual St. Vincent de Paul Seminary Picnic.
On Monday, the health department announced that Perryville would serve as the host of one of several planned community testing events across the state. The free, drive-through event is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, July 11-12, at City Park and will be conducted by the Missouri National Guard and the state Department of Health and Senior Services.
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“The state noticed that there was an increase in cases, not just in Perry County, but regionally,” said health department director Sylvia Forester, “so we were selected to host this testing event again.”
Perryville served as the site of a similar community-wide testing event run by the local health department in late April. The state provided 400 tests and the health department collected 338 samples. Two returned positive results.
This time, Forester said, the process of getting tested will be very similar, but in the interest of wider sampling, the event will be open to anyone.
“We’re going to be open to not just Perry County, but it will be open to any Missouri resident,” Forester said, adding that her department had received a number of calls and requests for another free testing event. “We’re expecting some of our neighbors from Cape Girardeau County and Ste. Genevieve County to take advantage of this opportunity as well.”
On Tuesday, the number of positive cases statewide reached 24,629, with large daily increases nearly every day since June 1 and reaching a record daily high of 550 cases in a single day on July 1. Tuesday’s report included 1,042 deaths attributed to the virus — including Perryville resident Stephanie Arrington, 28, who died June 28 at St. Clare Health Center in Fenton.
Much like the event in April, this weekend’s testing will be a drive-through affair, and according to Forester, those wishing to be tested “do not have to be experiencing symptoms to be eligible for the test, and no doctor’s order is required. There is also no fee, and no need to present insurance information.”
They will, however, have to pre-register by visiting health.mo.gov/communitytest or by calling the state hotline at 877-435-8411.
The test administered at the event will be the PCR test — in which samples are collected via nasopharyngeal swab — to determine if there is an active infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. This is not an antigen or antibody test, Forester said.
Despite similarities to the April event, Forester said there will be a few differences.
“This time it is going to be 100-percent staffed by the Missouri National Guard and the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services,” Forester said. “The health department is going to help and with logistics and coordinating behind the scenes, making sure everything needed for set up and stuff like that is available.”
Forester said Perry County Emergency Management interim director Andrew Bohnert will also lend a hand.
“It’s a team effort,” Forester said.
As with the April event, those wishing to be tested will enter City Park off of Highway 61 across from the Perry County Sheriff’s Office and be directed by personnel and signage to the testing area, which will located in the gravel parking lot near Field 8.
“The City of Perryville graciously let us use the same test location as last time,” Forester said, “so we thank the city of Perryville for letting us use that same location at the park again.”
Forester, whose department provides regular Facebook updates on Monday, Wednesday and Friday each week, said her department strongly encourages residents to follow the social media pages for health departments in counties they frequent for potential exposure notices.
In Perry County, the health department has issued three public notices of possible exposure — involving three bars and two restaurants — since June 29.
“We continue to encourage all citizens to social distance, wear a mask in public when 6 feet of social distance cannot be maintained, wash/sanitize their hands frequently, stay home if they are sick, and if a doctor has issued a COVID-19 test due to symptoms or exposure to stay home until they receive results,” Forester said.
