COVID-19 Patient's Father Violated Quarantine: STL County Exec

ST. LOUIS, MO — St. Louis County Executive Sam Page said the father of a young woman diagnosed with COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus, violated a voluntary quarantine over the weekend to attend a school function in Clayton, Missouri.

Health officials learned of the violation on Sunday and are working to identify anyone who has had contact with the woman or her family.

RELATED: First Coronavirus Case In Missouri Confirmed In St. Louis County

Don't miss updates about precautions in the St. Louis area as they are announced. Sign up for Patch news alerts and newsletters.

At a press conference Sunday afternoon, Page said county health officials had asked the woman and her family to self-quarantine on Thursday after she called the county's coronavirus hotline to report her symptoms.

"The way family has reacted to this situation is really a tale of two reactions, and a study of how people should and should not react to the coronavirus," Page said. "First, from everything we can gather, the patient had conducted herself responsibly and maturely, and she is to be commended for complying with the health department's instructions."

However, Page said, the woman's father did not act consistently with those instructions and instead decided to take another daughter to a social event Saturday evening.

"As a result, the county health directors informed him he must remain in his home or they will issue a formal quarantine that will require him and the rest of his family to stay in their home by the force of law," Page said.

The woman, who is in her 20s, tested positive for the coronavirus after returning from studying abroad in Italy earlier this week. She passed through O'Hare International Airport in Chicago and took an Amtrak train to St. Louis Wednesday, according to county officials. She attends an out-of-state college and has been quarantined at home with her parents, according to state and county health officials.

The woman was tested for the coronavirus Friday at Mercy Hospital. Officials informed her the test was positive Saturday evening, around the same time her father was attending a dance with his younger daughter at the Ritz-Carlton hotel.

"We depend on common sense and goodwill of the people that we communicate with, and when we ask someone to quarantine, and they tell us they will, we have to trust that," Page said, adding that the county is currently reviewing its quarantine policy.

Classes at Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill School, where the woman's sister is a student, have been canceled for Monday, according to a statement from school officials. The Post-Dispatch reports students at John Burroughs School may also have been exposed at a pre-dance event at a private home Saturday afternoon.

To date, officials say the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) has tested 26 individuals for COVID-19, including the case announced Saturday. Three additional tests remain in progress.

Page said the county would continue to provide the public with updated information through social media and the county's coronavirus website and hotline.

"We understand that there is serious concern about this virus and the potential escalation surrounding positive cases in our community," said Spring Schmidt, co-director of the St. Louis County Department of Public Health. "Our Department, local public health and local public safety agencies are working closely with state and federal agencies to quickly identify and respond to cases that might occur. We can't stress the importance of taking protective measures enough."

Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that include the common cold as well as much more serious diseases. The strain that emerged in China in late 2019, now called SARS-Cov-2, is related to others that have caused serious outbreaks in recent years, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). The first confirmed case of COVID-19, the illness caused by SARS-Cov-2, struck the U.S. on Jan. 21.

The disease, which apparently originated in animals, is now being spread from person to person, although the mechanism is not yet fully understood. Its symptoms include fever, coughing and shortness of breath, and many patients develop pneumonia. There is as yet no vaccine against COVID-19 and no antiviral treatment.

According to the CDC, the best way of preventing the disease is to avoid close contact with people who are sick, avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands, wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, and use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent alcohol if soap and water are not available.

For more information, or if you develop upper respiratory symptoms, visit stlcorona.com or call the county's coronavirus hotline at 314-615-2660.