An area health department has issued another COVID-19 exposure alert.

According to a release from Cooper County Public Health Center Administrator Melanie Hutton, individuals who were at the Otterville Food Pantry from 3 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday October 13, may have been exposed to the COVID-19 virus. If you feel you were exposed, you are urged to call the Cooper County Public Health Center at (660) 882-2626 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Monday, October 19. You also may contact the health department via e-mail at the link https://coopercountypublichealth.com/; and then click on contact. Your message will be confidential. Submit your name, e-mail address; and under comments- your home address, phone number and add your information of which event you attended.

If you do not have access to the internet, call (660) 882-2626.

Hutton says to help reduce a potential local outbreak, follow the instructions:

•If you are experiencing even one symptom, seek medical care. if you are not feeling well; have a sore throat; cough; headache; sinus pressure; nausea; vomiting; shortness of breath; difficulty breathing; loss of smell or taste; fever; chills; fatigue; diarrhea; or backache, you are urged to contact your physician for an order to seek out a PCR nasal test.

The Cooper County Public Health Center now has PCR testing and antibody testing by appointment only. You also may seek testing in Columbia at either MU, Boone Hospital or Urgent Care clinics. The PCR nasal swab test is better suited in this event due to the need to receive rapid results.

The CDC recommends all individuals get tested if they have been exposed to a known positive case.