First Missouri death from COVID-19 reported

.

The first death from COVID-19 in Missouri was recorded Wednesday in the Columbia area of Boone County.

Gov. Mike Parson and other officials said the person had been previously diagnosed and was at home when 911 was called Wednesday morning. Neither the person's gender nor age were disclosed.

The person was taken to University Hospital where he or she died.

Columbia Mayor Brian Treece said the case was travel-related and the individual is the same person who tested positive for COVID-19 Tuesday in Boone County. Treece previously said that individual was in their 60s, the Columbia Daily Tribune reported.

The emergency response workers who were involved in the response are being treated, per protocol, after being in contact with the person.

Authorities would only say the victim contracted COVID through traveling.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.

Twenty-four cases have now been confirmed in Missouri. One of the new cases involved someone who went to work in St. Louis even while exhibiting symptoms, Mayor Lyda Krewson said on Twitter.

"With this case, there's reason to believe there is community exposure," Krewson said. She urged anyone with cold- or flu-like symptoms to stay home and contact a medical professional.

Washington University Chancellor Andrew D. Martin on Wednesday announced that two physicians and two students tested positive for the virus.

In a letter to staff and students, Martin wrote that both students studied abroad in Denmark and did not return to campus. He said both are in quarantine out of state.

Martin said the two physicians at the School of Medicine are also in quarantine and are not working with patients.

"We're working as diligently and quickly as possible with public health officials who are focused on identifying and communicating with anyone who may have had contact with the physicians," Martin wrote.

Another of the new cases announced Tuesday was a Jackson County man in his 40s who recently traveled abroad. The man is doing well and is in isolation at home, while his family is in self-quarantine, county health officials said.

Children's Mercy hospital announced in a tweet Wednesday that a patient treated in the downtown Kansas City hospital's emergency room on Sunday had tested positive for the virus and would be self-quarantined at home.

Confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported in St. Louis city and Boone, Cass, Cole, Greene, Henry, Jackson and St. Louis counties.

The vast majority of people recover from the new virus. According to the World Health Organization, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover.