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St. Louis metro areas join Kansas City in requiring masks, state health director advises mask-wearing

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St. Louis City and St. Louis County have joined the state’s other major metro, Kansas City, in requiring masks in public to slow the spread of coronavirus.

Other cities are considering a similar rule as they watch virus cases increase in their areas.

“It’s a level of precaution that the scientists and the doctors really believe will help to continue to protect us, St, Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson said in a press briefing Wednesday.

Mayor Lucas before taking the podium at a press conference

“We don’t want happening here what’s happening in other parts of our country where they have to pull back on their reopening,” Krewson said.

Governors in Texas, Florida and Arizona and others have had to pause reopening plans because of a surge in cases.

Gov. Mike Parson says he will not mandate face covering but will wear one on official visits when asked.

“Whether you wear a mask has nothing to do with whether you are Republican or Democrat, whether it’s he-man or not, all that spin that everybody wants to put on it,” Parson said at his Tuesday briefing. “You have to make a decision as individuals. You know the facts.”

The facts are that within six feet or in close quarters indoors, spittle and breath spread the virus.

That is why State DHSS Director Randall Williams is one of the doctors urging the wearing of facemasks.

“The more we learn, the more important we realize that (masks-wearing) is,” he told reporters at the Capitol. “If I’m around somebody and I’m within six feet, I put on a facemask.”

Many legislators wore masks during the remaining few days of the session this spring.

Williams warns that social distancing is just as important, and it’s not happening. He says a new CDC study released Tuesday shows that 50 percent of infected people do not know who gave it to them, especially because so many people do not show symptoms at first.

In Kansas City, Mayor Quinton Lucas says his order was not politically-driven, but it brought an unexpected personal repercussion, he says. Racist messages and threats directed at him have increased.

“We are talking about masks because we want to protect people. It has nothing to do with race, frankly, it has nothing to do with needing to be divisive or political. It’s really everything to do with let’s have a city that functions, a city that’s trying to keep people safe,” Lucas said.

Parson briefing June 30: budget approved, with $448 million held back and $11 million in vetoes (VIDEO)

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Governor Mike Parson approved the new fiscal year 2021 budget bills totaling about $35.3 billion and vetoed 17 line items amounting to $11 million. However, continued revenue shortfalls expected because of the COVID-19 crisis have prompted him to block spending on $448 million in the budget, unless the economy gets healthier.

Schools and higher education took the brunt of singular cuts, though employee layoffs will be mainly in the mental health and social services agencies.

Itemized list of budget items withheld

At Thursday’s regular briefing, Missouri Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick gave an update on the work of the special working group appointed by the governor to make spending suggestions for federal COVID-19 stimulus funds.

Parson talked about the seriousness of the state’s COVID-19 death toll, now at one thousand. State Health Director Randall Williams intensified his call for wearing of masks in certain situations” “the more we learn the more important we realize that is.”

WATCH ENTIRE BRIEFING:

Missouri nursing homes to get promised $90 million in relief, “not enough” says advocate

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When Missouri state legislators passed a special budget to direct federal stimulus spending, it included $90 million to help nursing homes cope with a virus and accompanying respiratory disease that preys on its population of older, ill patrons.

But, as budget veteran Rep. David Wood explained, the budget amount was just a placeholder, giving the governor the authority to spend that money if and when it comes from the federal government.

Treasurer Fitzpatrick presides over working group meeting for CARES Act funding.

The supplemental budget passed on April 8 and the awaited help for the nursing homes may come soon.  Missouri Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick leads the working group to dispense the money, with the governor’s approval. He says the group will be meeting in the next week or two to review the next allocation of the $1.26 billion remaining from the federal relief funds to the state.

Since then, the estimate of nursing home needs has grown.

At the beginning of the crisis, nursing home needs were overlooked and underestimated, according to Nikki Strong, executive director of the Missouri Healthcare Association, the state advocacy organization for licensed long-term care facilities.

“We put a lot of time, a lot of effort into a really legitimate ask that, in my opinion, still won’t cover the cost nearly what I know now versus what I knew in March,” Strong said. “If we were to do this over again, I would probably say that $90 million does not come near in covering what many of our facilities across the state are incurring to deal with COVID.”

She said the facilities are now getting more access to testing, PPE’s and telemedicine, but can always use more.

Add to that, she said these facilities are “chronically underfunded.”

“We were 26 dollars per patient per day, on average, underfunded based on the cost reports we filed, mandate cost reports. Funding has always been a significant issue. We were in bad shape before COVID, after COVID from a financial perspective, we were in really, really bad shape,” Strong said. She says there have been dramatic increases in food costs, PPE’s, medical supplies, pharmacy, and oxygen.

Fitzpatrick said the formula for handing out this money has changed.

Now, instead of the previous per diem formula, nursing homes will apply for reimbursement for actual costs like PPE or hazard pay.

Fitzpatrick said state budget staff has been stymied by vague guidelines and have until the end of the year to work out the best way to spend the remaining funds.

“We have been hoping and waiting from additional feedback from (the U.S.) Treasury that will help us make better decisions moving forward because what we don’t want to do is get trigger-happy in spending this money really quickly and then find out they’ve made some clarification that would make that use of the money not acceptable or they open up a bunch of different uses for the money and we wish we wouldn’t have spent it the way we spent it,” Fitzpatrick told Missourinet.

 

Chinn: 2020 Missouri State Fair to continue with everything but concerts

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Missouri Agriculture Director Chris Chinn says the Missouri State Fair will take place as scheduled from August 13-23 in Sedalia.  The concert lineup will be the only regular feature not included. She says that many performers have been backing out of shows this year because of COVID-19 concerns, so that helped the decision.

The fair will still feature carnival, exhibits, contests, livestock showings, vendors, and food.

Chinn says fair organizers are working with vendors to make sure they have safety measures in place.

It also includes the Governer’s Ham Breakfast, says Gov. Parson. About a thousand people mingle at the breakfast gathering with state and national leaders of both parties.

“They have a new facility there, we’re thinking about ways that we can control the crowd size to that and alternative things,” Parson said. “We may change things as we move forward about what attendance looks like— are we going to let people be bunched up or are we going to let them be separated by bleacher rows or whatever that is.”

Missouri Department of Agriculture (MDA) Director Chris Chinn is recognized during a groundbreaking ceremony for Ranken Technical College’s new Troy campus on June 17, 2020 (photo courtesy of Governor Parson’s Flickr page)

The governor notes that the state fair, which started in 1901, has only been canceled one time. That was during World War II.

More than 337,000 people attended the 2019 state fair.

 

Copyright © 2020 · Missourinet

Missouri health department offers new guidance for nursing home visits

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UPDATED WITH NEW INFORMATION FROM DHSS

As part of the state’s reopening plan, Missouri will be giving long term care facilities much more flexibility to allow outdoor visits and visits through an open window or communal dining and group activities for residents who cannot leave their rooms.

According to DHSS, the long-term care facility guidance will be a “phased-in approach that will take into consideration many factors including the current status of COVID-19 in the community and current status of COVID-19 in the facility. In addition, other facility-specific guidance will likely be included in the reopening plan in line with guidance released from CMS.”   

“Since the underlying health conditions of residents in these facilities make them more vulnerable to COVID-19, the full reopening of all facilities will occur gradually and in phases. However, in order to allow facility residents a form of in-person visitation with family members and loved ones until a facility can fully reopen, the State will ease restrictions to allow for outside and window visitation at long-term care facilities assuming proper social distancing protocols and other criteria are being met.”

For instance, DHSS suggests a facility can consider visits if it has not had any COVID-19 staff or resident cases, or it has been two incubation periods (28 days total) since the last positive COVID-19 case acquired at the facility.

Outdoor visits are suggested for residents who do not have the virus or not suspected to have it or are recovered.

Social distancing and CDC-approved hygiene practices are still suggested.

Residents and patients in Missouri’s long-term care and skilled facilities have been some of the most vulnerable to COVID-19 and its spread. According to state health officials, 222 Missouri long-term care facilities have reported at least one case among staff or residents.

The state health department says Missouri ranks below national averages for cases per 1,000 residents, resident deaths and nursing staff cases per 1,000 residents. This was considered along with a 43 percent decrease in hospitalizations in Missouri since May 1 and increased testing rates.

 

Parson Thursday briefing: Missouri is fully open, State Fair will go on in some form (VIDEO)

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Missouri’s governor announced today that he thinks the state is better prepared to handle the COVID-19 virus and will be fully open for business June 16. The phase 2 step should still include social distancing and other precautions, he says, especially for people with health conditions that make them vulnerable.

That includes nursing homes, said Parson, so his office will publish a plan for long-term care facilities “in the next few days.”

In the briefing, state Economic Development Director Rob Dixon said “signs are pointing toward recovery” in the state’s business activities.

WATCH FULL PRESS CONFERENCE:

Missouri jury trials will look a little different during pandemic

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The Missouri Supreme Court is changing trial court proceedings to include safe distancing and more allowances for COVID-19 health concerns.

The order issued this week says  “The resumption of jury proceedings too early would not only risk the health of the participants, but it could also undermine public confidence in the courts and damage the integrity of trial by jury, a cornerstone of our justice system. … [E]very reasonable precaution should be taken in the context of jury proceedings.”

Recommendations for the state’s 115 trial courts include allowing jury service to be deferred for those at risk or caregivers, ensuring space and facilities for distancing, limiting numbers of people during jury selection, using more digital technology for exhibiting evidence, and suspending the use of warrants for jurors failing to appear.

The state’s court systems are resuming activities in phases and local court information is here:
https://www.courts.mo.gov/pandemic/.

Parson’s Tuesday June 9 briefing: Do not defund police, dramatic increases in COVID-19 weekly testing in Missouri (FULL VIDEO)

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Governor Mike Parson addressed calls to “defund the police” after two weeks of national protests against police practices, sparked by the video of the gruesome death of George Floyd in the custody of Minneapolis police.  Parson was joined by State Highway Patrol Col. Eric Olsen on that topic. Parson also paid tribute to retired St. Louis police officer David Dorn, who was shot-to-death in downtown St. Louis as he protected a pawn shop from looters.

Missouri Medicaid Director Todd Richardson and Missouri DHSS Dir. Randall Williams updated COVID-19 testing rates and contact tracing plans statewide.

The governor’s next briefing is Thursday afternoon, and he will discuss further plans to open the Missouri economy.

Census field operations underway in rural Missouri

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The U.S. Census Bureau has ramped up its field operations again – trying to get an accurate count of Missouri’s most remote and rural communities via hand delivery of 2020 Census paper forms. John Shikles – with the governor’s office – oversees the Census in the state. He says Missouri is more diverse than people might think and a challenge is reaching the rural areas.

Census field operations underway in rural Missouri

“Those rural areas, this time around, with internet response – it’s been difficult to capture some of those responses because there are connectivity issues. There are a lot of people who just still are not comfortable giving information online when they would otherwise be okay with sending in a paper Census form. That mindset seems to exist more in our rural communities. The COVID-19 pandemic has really created difficulty getting those rural areas to respond to Census too,” he says.

For the first time in history, residents can complete the information online. According to Shikles, about 60.8% of Missourians have responded so far.

“It’s obvious that the pandemic has had an effect on everyone and it has really put people’s priorities into light,” says Shikles. “There’s a lot of people who feel the Census may just not be important right now, but we are here to remind them that it really is.”

The Census primarily helps Congress decide how to allocate federal funding.

“It’s a total number that includes school funding, nutrition funding, Medicaid, Medicare. Those numbers are based on our Census data and how many people that the Census Bureau estimates are living in the state of Missouri,” he says.

Shikles says the form is simple – and is not asking for certain details.

“The Census Bureau will never ask you for your social security number,” he says. “They’ll never ask you personal questions like your religion and they’ll never ask you for money. So, if you start getting requests like that, it’s definitely a red flag and you’ll want to call the Census Bureau and let them know what’s happening.”

Shikles has not heard any reports from Census takers running into problems from the recent public safety unrest.

October 31 is the new deadline to respond online or in the mail.

Copyright © 2020 · Missourinet