First case of COVID-19 confirmed in Perry County

The Perry County Health Department announced late Saturday that it received notification of the first positive case of COVID-19 in Perry County.
According to a news release issued issued just before 10 p.m. Saturday, the infected individual, a female in her 50s, is isolated at home and has been in isolation since her symptoms first presented.
Public health officials have begun an investigation of this case, speaking with individuals who the patient may have come into contact with before the confirmed diagnosis. Method of transmission is still being investigated. The patient will continue to be monitored by the health department while in isolation.
The Health Department expects more cases to be confirmed locally as the number of citizens tested increases.
According to state officials, at least 90 cases have been confirmed in Missouri with three deaths. The first fatality was reported on March 18. Those numbers do not include the case in Perry County.
There are more than 24,000 confirmed cases in the United States, and more than 300 people have died.
COVID-19, which stands for "coronavirus disease 2019," is caused by a virus named SARS-CoV-2.

COVID-19 is a member of the coronavirus family of viruses, some of which can infect people and animals, named for crown-like spikes on their surfaces.
The viruses can cause the common cold or more severe diseases such as SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome) and COVID-19, the latter of which first appeared in late 2019 in Wuhan, China.
Symptoms of COVID-19 can include fever, cough and breathing trouble. Most develop only mild symptoms. But some people, usually the elderly or those with other medical complications, develop more severe symptoms, including pneumonia, which can be fatal.
For more information about COVID-19, call the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services’ 24-hour hotline at 1-877-435-8411.
For more information regarding COVID-19 and CDC guidance for local response, visit www.coronavirus.gov.
For Missouri specific information, visit the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services at  health.mo.gov/living/healthcondiseases/communicable/novel-coronavirus.
For more on this story, see the March 26 edition of the Republic-Monitor or visit perryvillenews.com/category/covid-19.