Virus Death in St. Francois County

(St. Francois County, MO.) St. Francois County Health Department officials are reporting the county's second death from the coronavirus. A news release from the department shows the victim was a female resident in her 70's. She also suffered from severe underlying health conditions. The case has no known source of infection. Information on the center's Facebook page indicates the second death was a case that had been previously considered “recovered” based on CDC criteria for release from isolation. This is the definition that many counties have used to define “recovered”. However, there has been no formal definition of “recovery” provided by the CDC. For this reason, the “recovered” category is being changed to “released from isolation” until a formal definition is provided for “recovery”.  The statement goes on to say release from isolation is defined as an improvement of symptoms for 3 full days without the use of fever-reducing medications and being 7 days from symptom onset; or an improvement of symptoms without the use of fever reducing medications and two negative tests in a row, 24 hours apart.  St. Francois county has had 26 confirmed cases. For more information on health safety, coronavirus news, and more visit kfmo.com