masks Archives - Missourinet

Missouri House committee to hear Tuesday testimony from Vandeven and Williams about COVID-19

August 7, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s health director and the education commissioner will both testify Tuesday in Jefferson City before a bipartisan Missouri House Committee that’s related to the coronavirus.

Missouri Commissioner of Education Dr. Margie Vandeven briefs Capitol reporters in Jefferson City on July 6, 2020 (file photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)

The Missouri House Special Committee on Disease Control and Prevention will meet Tuesday morning at 10:30 at the Statehouse in Jefferson City. The committee is chaired by State Rep. Jonathan Patterson, R-Lee’s Summit, a private practice general surgeon. The committee’s ranking Democrat is State Rep. Kip Kendrick, D-Columbia. Kendrick is the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee.

The committee will be examining the decision by school districts in reopening buildings to students, and will get an update on Missouri’s use of federal CARES Act funding.

The state Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) says Missouri now has 57,379 confirmed cases, up from 55,321 on Wednesday.

Chairman Patterson tells Missourinet that DHSS Director Dr. Randall Williams will testify on Tuesday morning, about the trajectory Missouri is on. Dr. Patterson is also interested what will happen if/when a COVID-19 vaccine is developed. Patterson wants to know if DHSS has a plan in place.

Another key part of Tuesday’s hearing will involve Missouri Commissioner of Education Dr. Margie Vandeven, who will testify about schools.

Chairman Patterson notes that he has a nine-year-old and a six-year-old in public school. He says the number one issue he’s hearing about from constituents is about school plans.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson says his office has worked closely with the State Departments of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and DHSS to address questions about reopening.

Earlier this week, DESE and DHSS released updated schoool reopening guidance, which addresses frequently asked questions. DESE and DHSS recommend that local school leaders require school staff members to wear face coverings, “as the data indicates COVID-19 transmission is more likely from adult to student, than from student to adult.”

Contact tracing is also addressed in the report from DESE and DHSS.

Governor Parson says the state is working to help school districts with personal protective equipment (PPE), noting that 1.8 million cloth masks have been made available through the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA).

The governor says DESE and SEMA are currently working to develop a plan to distribute the masks to Missouri school districts.

Missouri House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, announced the committee’s creation earlier this year. Chairman Patterson notes this will be the committee’s second hearing: they met on March 2 and heard testimony from Dr. Williams.

At that time, Dr. Williams testified there had been no confirmed cases in Missouri. About 100 people had been self-monitoring, according to testimony.

Governor Parson says Missouri is one of the states the White House is concerned about, with increasing COVID-19 cases. The governor told Capitol reporters this week that Vice President Mike Pence called him on Sunday, to offer additional assistance and resources to battle the pandemic.

DHSS: Missouri’s coronavirus cases increase 1,138 from Monday’s total

July 21, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s coronavirus cases have increased by more than 1,000 in the past 24 hours.

Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) Director Dr. Randall Williams briefs Capitol reporters on July 14, 2020 in Jefferson City (photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)

The state Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) says Missouri now has 34,762 confirmed coronavirus cases, an increase of 1,138 from Monday’s number of 33,624.

Missouri had 22,830 cases, as of July 3.

DHSS Director Dr. Randall Williams will brief Capitol reporters Wednesday afternoon at the Statehouse in Jefferson City, along with Governor Mike Parson. The governor told reporters last week that 60 percent of the new cases have been in three main regions: the St. Louis area, Kansas City area and southwest Missouri

Governor Parson has also noted that more younger people are testing positive in Missouri, adding that the average diagnosed patient’s age continues to drop.

Dr. Williams has been urging Missourians to wear a mask, to practice social distancing and to wash their hands frequently.

DHSS says there have been 1,143 COVID deaths in Missouri.

Missouri health officials working through backlog of COVID-19 tests

July 17, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s health director says there is a four-day backlog of about 7,000 COVID-19 tests waiting to be entered into the reporting system.

Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) Director Dr. Randall Williams briefs Capitol reporters in Jefferson City on July 14, 2020 (photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)

During a Thursday media briefing in Jefferson City, State Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) Director Dr. Randall Williams told Capitol reporters that they’re working as quickly as possible.

“We’ve been using the (Missouri) National Guard, we’ve been using other people, but we are ramping up other people in DHSS to become contact tracers and to do the filing of that information,” Dr. Williams says.

He says that DHSS is training others to do that job. He also emphasizes that the department’s rule is to report positives within an hour. Dr. Williams says he’s insisted on that.

Missouri now has 31,290 confirmed coronavirus cases, according to DHSS. That’s an increase of about 800 from Thursday. It’s also an increase of 3,847 from Monday’s number of 27,443.

DHSS says there have been 1,121 coronavirus deaths in Missouri.

Dr. Williams continues to urge Missourians to practice social distancing and to wear a mask, saying it’s the key to preventing the spread of COVID-19.

He urges people to be creative, and he put on a Mizzou mask while he was speaking to Capitol reporters on Thursday.

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

July 1, 2020 By Ashley Byrd

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.

Missouri House to tackle state budget on Monday; they’re being encouraged to wear masks

April 26, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

The 163-member Missouri House and its staff members will be encouraged to wear masks when they return to the Statehouse in Jefferson City on Monday.

Missouri House Majority Floor Leader Rob Vescovo, R-Arnold, (left) discusses the $6.2 billion supplemental budget with House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith, R-Carthage, on April 8, 2020 in Jefferson City (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

The House will gavel-in Monday at noon, and will be debating the budget.

“We have supplied all members and staff with cloth masks. They are cotton and washable,” Missouri House Chief Clerk Dana Rademan Miller tells Missourinet. “All are encouraged, but not required, to wear them and to continue to practice social/physical distancing protocols when we return for session on Monday.”

The House hasn’t met since April 8, when they approved a historic $6.2 billion supplemental budget to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. The April 8 debate with unlike anything that’s ever happened in the chamber, with House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, wearing a mask and the chamber limited to ten people at one time. There were no visitors that day in the upper galleries, which are normally full of lobbyists, schoolchildren and the general public.

House Majority Floor Leader Rob Vescovo, R-Arnold, tells Missourinet the House has scheduled six hours of budget debate on Monday.

House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith, R-Carthage, tells Missourinet he expects the House to perfect the budget on Monday, and give it final approval on Wednesday.

Speaker Haahr and Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, have said the decision to have lawmakers return on April 27 was not an easy one, but that “it’s absolutely critical for the people of Missouri that we keep the state government funded and services operating without interruption.”

Under the state Constitution, Missouri lawmakers are required to approve a balanced state operating budget by May 8.

Haahr and Schatz note committee hearings and legislative proceedings will remain open to the public. They are urging you to follow social distancing guidelines and to participate in the legislative process electronically, when possible.

Schatz says people entering the Missouri Capitol will go through a health screening process, like we saw earlier this month during the supplemental budget debate.

The last day of the 2020 legislative session is Friday, May 15.