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Since Friday, Perry County has seen a 61 percent increase in confirmed cases of COVID-19.
According to the Perry County Health Department’s daily report, as of Tuesday, the total number of cases has reached 18. That number includes 10 women and eight men, ranging in age from 30-39 to 80. The largest group — made up of seven subjects — are members of the 50-59-age bracket.
According to health department investigators, 16 of those cases have been the result of contact with another infected person. According to health department director Sylvia Forester, the number of infected is expected to rise.
“We have community spread,” Forester said. “You can think of it as Person A has COVID-19 and infected Person B, who then infected Persons C and D. Person D then infected persons E and F and so forth. This is what we are seeing, with more than one Person A. It’s not that one or two people infected everyone. It’s more like chains of infection.”
And those chains can rapidly reach all corners of the county. The first positive case in Perry County was reported on March 21, the second on March 23. Four days later, the count stood at seven. By Monday, it had more than doubled. Two more cases were confirmed on Tuesday.
“With each new positive comes new persons and businesses who are affected,” Forester said. “We see people who have tested positive for COVID-19 that believed they only had mild allergy symptoms, only to then find out that it is COVID-19. Prior to finding out, and while they have symptoms, they continue to visit family and friends, go to work, and go to stores. With each new positive, the number of affected community members and organizations grows exponentially.”
On Friday, the Randolph County, Ill., Health Department reported that an individual who lived in Perry County but worked at Gilster-Mary Lee in Chester had tested positive for the virus. It is unclear at this time whether that case is included in Perry County’s totals or in Randolph County’s, but reports indicate that the subject will be monitored by Perry County.
According to a news release issued Friday, any Gilster-Mary Lee employees who may have been in close contact have been asked to remain at home in isolation for a period of 14 days and monitor their symptoms and the Randolph County Health Department is working in conjunction with health departments in both Perry County and Perry County, Ill., to notify any close contacts.
“Glister Mary-Lee Corporation will continue to interview employees and monitor temperatures to determine if anyone else is at risk,” the release said, adding that the company is “working closely with the Department of Public Health and following all the appropriate next steps to ensure employee and public health.”
Last week, the Perry County Commission issued a “shelter in place” advisory for all county residents, a decision that came on the heels of Sunday’s declaration of a state of emergency in the county, which activated the county’s Emergency Operations Center.
That order also mandated the closing of all food establishments, bars and taverns to inside service, while encouraging each to offer service to the public using delivery, drive-through or curbside service.
Also last week, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson made a request for a federal major disaster declaration for the state, a request that was approved by President Donald Trump on Thursday.
On Friday, Parson signed an executive order mobilizing the Missouri National Guard.
“The Guard will play a major role in supporting state and community operations, including potential support for COVID-19 testing and transporting equipment and supplies,” Governor Parson said. “I want to be clear — this is not about putting Missouri under martial law. This is a planning stage operation to provide more assistance to the people of Missouri and increase our capacity to deploy resources quickly.”
Follow the rules
The best way to slow the virus down, Forester said, is to follow the rules.
“We need to follow the stay at home order, follow social distancing guidelines, and stay home when you are sick,” Forester said. “Everyone who is doing so, thank you! You are doing the right thing. Everyone who is not doing so is doing a great disservice to their community, friends, and family. The longer it takes for everyone to take this seriously and follow the rules, the longer it will take for Perry County, Missouri, and the United States to get through this time. It is everyone’s personal responsibility to remain diligent and reduce public contact.”
Statewide, the number of infected continues to grow. As of Tuesday, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services reported 1,327 confirmed cases with 14 deaths. Nationwide, the numbers reflect nearly 185,000 infected with more than 3,700 deaths.
Forester said the increase is positive results can be attributed to a number of factors.
“This tells us that our public health nurses are doing a very good job at their investigations and finding infected persons through those investigations,” Forester said. “Our nurses have received praise from staff at the Department of Health and Senior Services regarding their thorough contact investigations. Our staff continue to work nights and weekends on COVID-19 response for our community.”
In addition, increased testing has played a part.
“As more testing is done and as more people are identified as close contacts and are tested, we will have more positives,” Forester said. “Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.”
According to DHSS, there have been nearly 16,000 tests administered in Missouri, including dozens from Perry County Memorial Hospital in Perryville.
PCMH began testing for COVID-19 on March 12 and opened a specialized Acute Repiratory Infection Clinic that offers drive-up testing on March 23. Through Monday, March 30, the hospital had administered 69 tests for the disease at an average rate of just under four per day. Of those, 12 tests detected the presence of the disease, while 48 did not. Nine are still pending.
“We have tested several teenagers, and it’s a pretty balanced spread across all the other age ranges,” said PCMH CEO Patrick Carron, who added that not all those tested were from Perry County and that PCMH has not tested all those who are being monitored by the local health department. “We’ve even had a couple in their 90s that have been tested.”
PCMH is not currently treating any patients for COVID-19, but Carron said the hospital is prepared for that eventuality.
“We’re designating our hospital as a ‘clean’ hospital,” Carron said, “which means that we will have a unit set up with special rooms for people who might have been tested but are not positive. And then anyone who has to be hospitalized and has the COVID virus will go either north or south until a time that those hospitals wouldn’t be able to manage any more cases.”
Normally, PCMH has 25 beds for patients, but Carron told the Republic-Monitor last week that, in case of emergencies, that could be expanded to 30.
Some good news
On the positive side, some people are recovering. In Perry County, Forester’s department reports that three of those who were infected have recovered. While the state health department does not report recoveries, nationwide numbers show more than 6,000 recoveries. Many do not require hospitalization, but Forester said, unless their symptoms worsen, that decision rests with the subject’s primary care physician.
“They stay at home until they recover,” Forester said. “Recovery by definition currently means 72 hours fever free without the use of fever reducing medicine, improvement in respiratory symptoms, and at least 7 days have to have passed since symptoms first appeared. Patients are, of course, encouraged to contact their physicians with any worsening conditions. Our nurses do follow-up calls with them as well.”
Forester warned that despite the number of recovering, people should continue to take the disease seriously.
“It is absolutely not ‘just the flu,’” Forester said. “We have no herd immunity and no vaccine. At some point, everyone will have to take this seriously, and I do hope that time is not too late — not when you or someone close to you is affected by it.”
For more information about COVID-19, call the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services’ 24-hour hotline at 1-877-435-8411.
