Wearing a protective mask and safety glasses, bus driver Perla Cardenas uses a handheld sprayer Thursday to apply disinfectant to bus seats at the Brownsville, Texas, Independent School District Transportation Department. The school district has instigated precautionary measures, like spraying campuses and buses, to prevent the spread of the coronavirus among the student population. [Denise Cathey/The Brownsville Herald via AP]

While the coronavirus outbreak is a public health emergency, that does not mean residents should panic over it, Audrain County Health Department Administrator Sandra Hewlett said.

“It really is a time to be calm and know that people just need to make wise choices,” she said.

The basics are to avoid crowded places including planes, trains and cruise ships and avoid visiting affected countries. Each person should also practice good hand hygiene, avoiding shaking hands, stay home if sick and keep children home if sick.

“The extent that we are affected here [in Audrain County] in large part is reflective of our behaviors. The common sense you would do for the cold or flu, there is nothing different here,” Hewlett said.

She is encouraging residents to think before they go somewhere because a person not only is risking their own health, but could bring something back to the county.

“If you can really make an elective decision to avoid [St. Louis], you should,” she said.

On Thursday evening, Gov. Mike Parson announced the second “presumptive positive” coronavirus case in Missouri during a Springfield news conference. The first case was in St. Louis County involving a woman who had recently traveled to Italy.

“We are an elderly county and [those residents] are at higher risk, so they need stay closer to home over the next few weeks until we have more information,” Hewlett said.

Local nursing facilities have decided to conduct quarantine operations to safeguard residents. Missouri Veterans Home and Pin Oaks are not allowing visitors.

Access is completely restricted at the veterans home except for health care employees, Missouri Veterans Commission public information officer Jamie Melchert said. The restriction started Sunday and the home is not allowing guests, volunteers or vendors to enter the building to make deliveries.

“Deliveries will be made outside and our staff will bring the deliveries inside as a precautionary measure,” Melchert said.

The home has arranged video-conferencing so family members can still contact and see their loved ones during the quarantine period. The home will continue quarantine measures until further notice.

Missouri Military Academy also is taking precautions to ensure the health and safety of cadets and the Mexico community as cadets return from their spring furlough. A majority stayed in the U.S., with international students staying with host families, Hewlett said. A few cadets did travel to Western Europe over the break. All cadets will be screened by the academy’s medical staff as they return to campus.

“They will be screened for respiratory symptoms upon re-entry. Most of them stayed [in the U.S. and] here in town,” she said.

The few who visited Europe will be closely monitored over the next few weeks.

“The [academy] has a fine plan in place. They have been really responsible in all of this,” Hewlett said.

The health department is working on conducting N-95 mask fit testing for first responders and other entities that have medical professionals, such as the Mexico School District.

“The only group we have yet to hear from is the sheriff’s department. Everybody else is scheduling education and fit testing that is with the first responder group,” Hewlett said.

The World Health Organization classified coronavirus, or COVID-19 as a pandemic Wednesday. The WHO classifies a pandemic as “a worldwide spread of a new disease,” which is meant to describe the geographical impact of a new disease.

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services has set up a hotline for anyone with concerns over coronavirus exposure. The number is 1-877-435-8411.

Unless it is a medical emergency, people who suspect they may have the virus should not go to the emergency room or regular physician’s office without calling ahead, Randolph County Health Department Administrator Sharon Whisenand said.

“If people suspect they have the virus, they can’t just walk in anywhere and get a test done,” she said. “They do need to have physicians or nurse practitioner’s order. We would recommend that people call facilities before they go there.”

Erik Cliburn of The Moberly Monitor-Index contributed to this report.

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