93.9 The Eagle – The News and Talk of Columbia, MO
The coronavirus is officially in Boone and Cole counties.
Missouri Health and Senior Services announced the confirmed Boone and Cole county cases on Tuesday afternoon. As of Tuesday night, there were 15 cases in the state.
According to Columbia mayor Brian Treece, the Boone County patient is in his/her 60’s who traveled outside the United States. The patient is self-isolating at home. Officials say they have spoken with people in close contact with the patient.
“We have planned for this, to be prepared but not panicked,” Treece says.
Cole County’s patient also recently traveled outside the U.S.
“We still have no evidence of community spread,” Cole County health official Kristi Campbell says.
Director Stephanie Browning with Columbia/Boone County Public Health and Human Services announced new restrictions on public gatherings in Columbia: no more than 50 people in the same place, or half the capacity of the building where the gathering is happening, whichever is smaller. That limit has exceptions, like grocery stores.
MU Health, which is now treating its first COVID-19 patient, says it is starting a drive-thru clinic on Wednesday. It will be open from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily in the parking lot of the MU softball stadium off Stadium Boulevard. But this test is only for patients with physician orders, not the general public. You can get a video checkup for free.
Gov. Parson said during his press conference in Jefferson City on Tuesday night the state is working with universities and businesses to ramp up testing in the state.
“It will be a daily fight for several months, that we’ll have to fight the [novel coronavirus], and we need to be working together as citizens of the state of Missouri to do that.”
Parson said it will come down to personal responsibility to practice social distancing and limit the spread of the new coronavirus in Missouri.
(This story was last updated at 5:58 a.m. Wednesday.)
