ST. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo. — St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann is urging county residents to change their behaviors to help stop the spread of COVID-19.
This comes as COVID-19 cases continue to rise across the country and in the St. Louis area.
“Our county is facing a severe rise in positive cases and hospitalizations, as well as an increase in deaths,” Ehlmann said. “I am calling on each county resident to do what is necessary to help us get this virus under control.”
According to St. Charles County's COVID-19 dashboard, in the last 14 days there have been 5,035 confirmed cases compared to the prior 14 days of 2,391 cases.
Ehlmann has not put any restrictions in place.
“One of the biggest issues we have is that people are not limiting their contacts,” Ehlmann said. “We all must be doing that immediately so we can keep our kids in school and our businesses open. Our hospitals tell me they are on the verge of being at capacity, and if that happens, there won’t be beds available for anyone, no matter what health care issue they are facing.”
County officials launched a public awareness campaign with billboards like the one in the picture below.
Ehlmann also said county officials will be sending out something in the mail to remind people of mitigation efforts.
"We need to educate people on how important this is. It's more important right now because hospitals tell us they are filling up," Ehlmann said.
On Tuesday, tighter COVID-19 restrictions went into effect in St. Louis County — which borders St. Charles County. Among those new restrictions: no indoor dining, 25% capacity at businesses instead of 50% and all residents 6 years old and older are required to wear masks in public.
“I am not asking people to stop living their lives,” Ehlmann said, “but I am asking them to limit their activities to the critical things such as work and school. By doing so, we can better ensure that the community can enjoy a happy and healthy holiday season.”
Ehlmann is advising everyone to do the following:
- Limit daily activities to work, school and necessary errands.
- Avoid bars and restaurants where you can’t social distance.
- Use carry-out rather than dining in.
- Wear a mask in public or when around people outside of your household.
- Keep weekly contacts to less than 10 people.
- Avoid groups that exceed 10 people.
- Frequently sanitize commonly touched surfaces.
- Wash your hands often.
“It shouldn’t be any surprise to anyone that these are things we need to do,” Ehlmann says. “We just need to do them. All of them. All of us.”
