May 30, 2020
ADAIR COUNTY COVID-POSITIVE NUMBER HITS 53
Kirksville, MO 5/29/2020 – A 38-year-old female employee at an area meat-processing plant is the latest Adair County resident to test positive for COVID-19. Fifty-three people have now tested positive since January 1, 2020, with 38 now in isolation.
Missouri Governor Mike Parson has extended the state’s Phase 1 recovery measures through June 15, 2020. The Phase 1 plan includes orders to “…adhere to social distancing requirements, including maintaining six feet of space between individuals in most cases.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that people wear masks to protect others in public places where social distancing is not possible or is unpredictable. Anyone who has any symptoms of COVID-19 should isolate at home. But the CDC’s current “best estimate” of the percentage of people who have no symptoms but are infected with the virus is 35%. Wearing masks helps prevent transmission of the virus from asymptomatic carriers to other people.
ADAIR COUNTY COVID-POSITIVE NUMBER TOPS 50
Kirksville, MO 5/28/2020 – There are now 52 Adair County residents who have tested positive for COVID-19 since the beginning of the year. Of those, 37 people are in isolation and 15 have left isolation.
Three females, ages 23, 26 and 28, are the most recent people to have positive test results. One is related to an area meat-processing plant. Transmission of the virus to the other two women was due to community spread which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines as “spread of an illness for which the source of infection is unknown.”
“One of the three women is an officer with the Kirksville Police Department who likely was infected by a person she came in contact with while on duty,” said Jim LeBaron, administrator of the Adair County Health Department. “It’s probable that the person did not have symptoms of the virus at the time but was infected and transmitted the virus to the officer,” he said.
The Health Department has contacted officers and staff with the Kirksville Police Department and will continue to monitor the situation. The Adair County Health Department conducts contact-tracing efforts for all individuals who test positive for the disease.
“This is exactly how community spread occurs,” LeBaron said. “An infected person randomly comes into close contact with another person who later tests positive for the virus. That’s why each of us has to take steps to protect other people around us, particularly people like law enforcement, healthcare workers, first responders, and those people who go to work every day to make sure there are groceries on the shelves and our prescriptions are filled,” he said.
To control community spread of COVID-19, residents are encouraged to maintain social distancing, wear masks in public spaces where social distancing is not possible or is unpredictable, wash hands with soap and water frequently for at least 20 seconds, and avoid touching your face, particularly the eyes, nose and mouth.
ADAIR COUNTY COVID-POSITIVE NUMBER REACHES 49
Kirksville, MO 5/27/2020 – Two individuals related to area meat-processing plants have become the 48th and 49th Adair County residents to have tested positive for COVID-19 year to date. The Adair County Health Department has been notified of positive results for a 37-year-old male and a 22-year-old male. There are now 34 people in isolation and 15 who have left isolation.
Jim LeBaron, administrator of the Adair County Health Department, advises residents to remain vigilant to keep the spread of the virus down to a minimum.
“Keep practicing those things that have been recommended by health experts and scientists, including washing your hands, not touching your face, staying six feet away from others and wearing a mask in public to protect others just in case you’re carrying the virus,” LeBaron said. “Wearing masks isn’t a political statement. It’s a precaution that can help reduce transmission of the virus, particularly from people who don’t have symptoms, to other people. If everyone will be careful, we can minimize transmission while we wait for effective treatments and a vaccine to be developed,” he said.
47 COVID-19 CASES YEAR TO DATE BUT PEOPLE LEAVING ISOLATION
Kirksville, MO 5/26/2020 – There have now been 47 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among Adair County residents since January 1, 2020. The latest two cases involve a 38-year-old female and a 24-year-old male related to area meat-processing plants. As of today, 15 of those 47 individuals who tested positive previously have left isolation. There are now 32 active cases and no deaths.
To date, 1,270 people have been tested for COVID-19 in Adair County using lab tests, rapid ID Now tests and tests prior to surgical procedures. Of those, 1,122 have had negative results, 57 have tested positive, and the results of 91 are still pending. Forty-seven of the 57 positives have been Adair County residents. The other 10 results are for individuals tested here but living outside Adair County.
The Adair County Health Department has made 275 contacts in its contact-tracing efforts. Staff continue to focus on contact tracing to reduce transmission of the virus by people who have tested positive.
CASES REACH 40 IN ADAIR COUNTY
Kirksville, MO 5/22/2020 – As we head into the Memorial Day Weekend, one new case of COVID-19 has been reported to the Adair County Health Department, bringing the total number of cases since January 1, 2020 to 40. A 29-year-old female is the latest person to test positive for the virus. Twenty-eight county residents are now in isolation.
ADAIR COUNTY COVID-19 CASE UPDATE
Kirksville, MO 5/21/2020 – Two new cases of COVID-19 today involve a 58-year-old female and a 27-year-old female, bringing total cases in Adair County to 39. Twenty-seven people are currently in isolation. One of the two cases is an employee of an area meat processing plant; the other is not.
The Adair County Health Department has contacted 186 people who have had close contact with individuals who have tested positive to date and continues contact-tracing efforts to help slow transmission of the virus.
“COVID-19 continues to spread in our community,” said Jim LeBaron, administrator of the Adair County Health Department. “Every resident of the county bears a responsibility to take every precaution possible to protect others. We all have to do what we can to slow the spread,” he said.
