*This story has been updated on 3/21/20 at 11:21 AM to reflect that the event was a wedding at Heritage Hall in Bonne Terre on March 14th and include an additional statement form St. Francois County Health Center Executive Director
(Bonne Terre, MO) The St. Francois County Health Center is investigating an apparent coronavirus exposure at a wedding at Heritage Hall in Bonne Terre on March 14th where around 200 people were in attendance St. Francois County Health Center Executive Director Amber Elliott confirmed to KFMO/B104. The release states two people who attended that resided outside of the state of Missouri have tested positive for COVID-19 and they were symptomatic while attending the wedding.
Elliot says the county health center is working with the event organizer to identify and contact all of those who attended. Elliot says there were around 200 people who attended the event, including from St. Francois County and other counties.
In a post on the St. Francois County Emergency Management Facebook page, Amber Elliot said, “We have worked through much of Friday night, but have had difficulty obtaining a full list with contact information. It is also possible that there were people in attendance that were not listed.”
Elliott continued, “Because this was a large event, it is difficult to know exactly who were close contacts to the confirmed cases that evening. Close contacts are anyone who was within six feet of a confirmed case for at least 15-30 minutes.”
“The family has stated they have received threats from members of the public. It is a very unfortunate event; however, threatening people won’t help and may even discourage people who are symptomatic from coming forward for testing,” Elliott said.
Elliot has asked that all those who attended will be quarantined through March 28th.
Any attendee who develops a fever greater than 100.4 or a cough will be instructed to call their healthcare provider to be tested. If an attendee develops shortness of breath or becomes urgently ill, they should call their local hospital before arriving. This is a developing story and KFMO/B104 will provide more information as it becomes available.
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