ST. LOUIS (KMOX/AP) - The St. Louis County woman who tested positive for coronavirus after returning home from Italy traveled from Chicago to St. Louis via an Amtrak train last week and the company says they will "do a thorough disinfection of the Chicago and St. Louis stations."
The woman landed at O'Hare Airport in Chicago on March 3, she was returning home from a study-abroad trip in Italy when she showed symptoms.
Related: Father, sister of COVID-19 patient violated self quarantine
She got on the 303 train to St. Louis on March 4.
Here is the full statement from Amtrak:
"At Amtrak, safety is our top priority. We have received notification from St. Louis County, Mo. that an individual who traveled on Amtrak train 303 (Chicago – St. Louis) on March 4, 2020, has tested presumptive positive for the coronavirus. We are working in close contact with public health and emergency management teams to have the best available information to be able to share with our customers and employees who might be affected. Amtrak is notifying passengers and employees who may have been on the same train, and as a precaution, we have taken the train out of service for comprehensive cleaning and disinfection, and are also working to do a thorough disinfection of the Chicago and St. Louis stations."
The release said that as a precaution, the train also has been taken out of service for comprehensive cleaning.
The process of determining who needs to be notified, checked for symptoms and tested is unfolding, said Spring Schmidt, acting co-director of the county health department.
Two Catholic schools in suburban St. Louis have temporarily closed and some students at a third school have been told to stay home after the father of the first person in Missouri to become ill with the coronavirus attended a dance with another child.
St. Louis County Executive Sam Page said at a news conference Sunday that the patient's family was told on Thursday to self quarantine at their home in Ladue but didn't follow health department instructions.
Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill School in Frontenac said in a message to parents that the father and sister of the infected patient attended the father-daughter dance Saturday night at the Ritz-Carlton in Clayton. They also apparently attended a pre-dance gathering at the house of a Villa student.
Page said health officials have told the man that "that he must remain in his home or they will issue a formal quarantine that will require him and the rest of his family to stay in their home by the force of law."
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