The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS), in partnership with the Missouri National Guard, hosted a free large-scale COVID-19 testing site on Monday and Tuesday in Platte City.

“It is important for the health of our residents that we continue to monitor the presence of the virus in our community as we continue to open the county back up,” said Mary Jo Vernon, director of the Platte County Health Department.

DHSS and Missouri National Guard encouraged pre-registration but walk-ins were accepted. The only eligibility for the testing was Missouri residency. The testing was through a nasopharyngeal swab.

For a positive result, the individual tested will be contacted by DHSS by a nurse with further instructions, time for questions, and notification that their local health department will be calling for further case investigation/contract tracing.

Individuals who test negative will be notified in one of the following ways according to their preference when registering - looking in MYQuest portal, notification by text, or notification by phone call. The instructions for MyQuest were provided in an email after the specimen was collected.

HEALTH DEPARTMENT UPDATE

The Platte County Health Department’s Board of Trustees met for a work session after the deadline for this week’s Citizen on Tuesday, June 9.

According to the update published by the health department on Wednesday, June 10, 162 positive COVID-19 cases have been reported, with 78 of those in Kansas City and 84 outside of Kansas City.

Between April 21 and June 3, the health department collected 596 specimens, with 15 of those coming back positive. Results are pending for one test.

A third death was also reported, bringing the death toll to two women — in their 70s and 80s — and a man in his 50s.

As of June 9, 16 hospitalizations had been reported outside of Kansas City.