north St. Louis County Archives

Missouri lawmaker emphasizes importance of COVID-19 testing in 63113 zip code, which has 152 cases

May 10, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

A state lawmaker from St. Louis who’s pushed to expand coronavirus testing plans to host a second testing event on Monday at a mobile site on North Kingshighway Blvd.

State Rep. Steven Roberts, D-St. Louis, (left) and Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) Office of Minority Health Staff Chief Joe Palm attended the COVID-19 mobile testing event at the Victor Roberts Building in St. Louis on May 4, 2020 (photo courtesy of Representative Roberts’ Capitol office)

State Rep. Steven Roberts, D-St. Louis, worked with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) and Affinia Healthcare to establish the mobile test site. It’s located at the Victor Roberts Building, at 1408 North Kingshighway.

The Victor Roberts Building is in the 63113 zip code, which Affinia Healthcare says “is one of the hot spots in St. Louis City.”

A detailed map from the St. Louis City Department of Health shows that there are 152 COVID-19 cases in the 63113 zip code. The only zip code in St. Louis city with more cases is 63116, which now has 164 cases.

Representative Roberts says the COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on St. Louis’ African-American community.

“This past Sunday (May 3), St. Louis posted its highest number of new cases for a single day since the outbreak began. Of the residents of the city who have died, 68 percent are African-American. We desperately needed more testing sites accessible in the area where the virus has proven most devastating,” Roberts says, in a statement.

Roberts also cites a recent news article from KMOV-TV. The station reports that while 68 percent of St. Louis City’s COVID-19 deaths are African-Americans, the city’s African-American population is only 46 percent.

Roberts says more than 50 people showed up and received a COVID-19 test last Monday, when the site opened. He describes the Victor Roberts Building as a large site in a centralized location, that makes it easier to provide social distancing.

He emphasizes there is no fee and no referral is needed. Roberts says the aim is to get more St. Louisans tested, which he says is the key to reducing transmission.

Roberts urges residents to get tested, even if they’re asymptomatic.

Because of the success last Monday, Roberts is hosting a second event on Monday from 9 a.m. to noon. He praises the collaboration from DHSS and Affinia Healthcare.

State health officials say there are now 9,844 confirmed coronavirus cases in Missouri, along with 482 deaths. In St. Louis City, there are now 1,484 cases and 85 deaths.

Veteran State Rep. Alan Green, D-Florissant, has also warned that the COVID-19 outbreak is disproportionately impacting African-American communities, “in pockets in north St. Louis County.” Green says black residents in St. Louis City and north St. Louis County are feeling a disproportionate impact of the disease.

Green: COVID-19 outbreak in Missouri is disproportionately impacting African-American communities (AUDIO)

April 17, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

The top Democrat on the Missouri House Special Committee on Small Business is calling on the Parson administration to utilize more minority-owned businesses to manufacture personal protective equipment (PPE) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

State Rep. Alan Green, D-Florissant, represents north St. Louis County, which has been hit hard by the outbreak.

State Rep. Alan Green, D-Florissant, speaks on the Missouri House floor in Jefferson City on February 19, 2020 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

“I’ve received phone calls from those that again have provided, they can provide masks and also even testing, some of them have their companies up and running, been established for many, many, many years,” Green says.

Green, a former Legislative Black Caucus Chairman, is asking Governor Mike Parson (R) to use the spending authority and discretion granted to him under the $6 billion supplemental budget to utilize more minority, female and disadvantaged business enterprise companies to make PPE. That includes masks, gloves and gowns.

The Legislature voted last week to approve the largest supplemental budget in state history, a $6.2 billion emergency relief package aimed at battling the pandemic, which has cost thousands of jobs around the state.

Representative Green also says the COVID-19 outbreak is disproportionately impacting African-American communities, especially in pockets of north St. Louis County. He says black residents are feeling a disproportionate impact of the disease, especially in north county.

“I look at other areas, of course when we look at all of St. Louis County and also St. Louis City, I’m not trying to just say zero in, but I am saying we are the hardest hit,” says Green.

In nearby St. Louis City, news reports this week say that 19 of the 24 people who have died were African-Americans.

State health officials say there are now 5,111 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Missouri, along with 152 deaths. The state Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) announced the latest numbers Thursday afternoon.

Governor Parson recently announced that the state is proceeding with its first alternate care site to assist hospitals in the St. Louis region, treating an increased number of COVID-19 patients.

The governor says a hotel in Florissant is currently being converted into the care facility. That’s near Green’s district.

If necessary, the Florissant site could accommodate more than 100 people and be used to house those who test positive for COVID-19 with mild or no symptoms, as well as those exposed to it and referred by health care professionals as requiring treatment but not hospitalization.

Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and State Rep. Alan Green, D-Florissant, which was recorded on April 14, 2020: