Katie Kull | Springfield News-Leader

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A woman in her 80s who lived at a local assisted living facility was the first coronavirus-related death in Greene County and the second in Missouri.

On Monday evening, local public health chief Clay Goddard announced the woman who resided at Morningside of Springfield East died in the hospital after testing positive for the virus. Three others from that same facility are currently in hospital care.

"This is a sobering reminder of what we are fighting here, and I mean 'we,'" he said. "It will take each and every one of us fighting against this illness. It will take each and every one of us making sacrifices in the short term so that we can flatten the curve."

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The announcement came just hours after Goddard first reported the infections at Morningside, which marked the first known cases of so-called "community spread," where the source of the disease could not be traced back to a known coronavirus patient or a person who had recently traveled to an impacted area.

Mayor Ken McClure and also spoke at a media briefing, saying he would have an announcement Tuesday about ordering more restrictions on residents.

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Last week, the Springfield City Council and Greene County Commission passed rules prohibiting gatherings of more than 10 people. They did not exempt restaurants or bars, effectively reducing service to drive-thru, pickup or delivery.

Since then, doctors and health officials have urged stricter actions, both at the state and local level. Most are urging a "shelter-in-place" order to prohibit people from leaving home except to get food, medicine or medical care.

Presiding Commissioner Bob Dixon said the county was reviewing other options as well.

But Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said in a briefing Monday he had no plans to issue orders stricter than a prohibition on gatherings of more than 10 people.

As of Monday evening, 17 people in Greene County had tested positive for coronavirus, including the four from the assisted care facility and two that had already recovered.

The county was awaiting tests from a handful of other people at Morningside, and as of Monday morning, a local drive-thru testing site had sent 340 tests to private labs for processing.

Goddard said the turnaround time to receive test results was four to 10 days.

"That's certainly not ideal," he said. "The positive here is that when people are going through that drive-thru testing they have been asked to stay at home and isolate."

Across the country, the number of people testing positive for the virus has grown exponentially in recent days.

Those numbers have also been pronounced in assisted care facilities, nursing homes and other elder care services. According to an analysis from the Washington Post published Saturday, at least 73 facilities in 22 states were reporting infections.

As of Friday, at least 55 coronavirus deaths had occurred among people in those elder care facilities, though the Post noted that number is probably higher because official accounts often omit a description of the person's last place of residence.

People in elder care facilities tend to be more at-risk for receiving the virus, falling in the category of being over 60 and often having one or more chronic condition that compromises the immune system.

"Since our initial preparations began in January, we have highlighted the risk for certain groups such as the elderly and those in long-term care facilities and subsequently instructed facilities to impose restrictions on visitation," said Randall Williams, director of the state health department in a news release. "We have been emphasizing the importance of infection control plans for these facilities, and we are actively working on this particular situation with our colleagues in Springfield."

State health officials are requiring staff at Morningside East to follow various protocols to reduce spread, including ceasing admissions and watching other residents to monitor them closely for signs and symptoms of the virus.