JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri Governor Mike Parson said he will not be reversing course on reopening the state even as the state reported a record number of new cases of COVID-19 for the second time in three days.
On Thursday, the state reported 795 new coronavirus cases, a new single day for the state. The state also reported 12,485 new tests, the third-highest total since the state changed the way it reports testing numbers. The state's positivity rate increased from 5.70% on Wednesday to 5.72% on Thursday.
"I think it's important, and I've been pretty clear on this, when we opened the state back up, I think that's exactly what we did, we opened the state back up," Gov. Parson said in response to a question about reevaluating his stance Thursday. "People are going to have to deal with the virus along with the economy and get people back out there."
Dr. Randall Williams, the director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, said about 60% of the testing and 60% of the total cases in the state occur in five jurisdictions: St. Louis, St. Louis County, St. Charles County, Kansas City and Jackson County. He said those five jurisdictions have also accounted for most of the recent increases. The recent increases have also included a spike in the southwestern portion of the state that was due in part to an outbreak at a meatpacking facility.
St. Louis County has seen the largest increase in cases of any jurisdiction in the state over the last three days, 538 new cases.
Dr. Williams also said the increase in cases across the state and in St. Louis County is largely among young people he said are not following social distancing guidelines.
He said the mortality rate has dipped because many of the new cases are among young people who are not likely to die. However, Dr. Williams said with the increase in the number of people getting the virus, it will likely increase the number of deaths.
On Thursday, the state reported 811 total COVID-19 hospitalizations in the state on July 6, which is the most recent data reported. The data is lagged three days to ensure accuracy. The 811 hospitalizations are the most the state has reported since it reported 828 hospitalizations on May 12.
In St. Louis area hospitals, almost all the numbers tracked by the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force decreased Thursday.
Here is the full break down of data from the task force:
- New hospital admissions (data lagged two days) decreased — from 32 Wednesday to 17 Thursday.
- The seven-day moving average of new hospital admissions (data lagged two days) increased — from 22 Wednesday to 23 Thursday.
- The seven-day moving average of hospitalizations remained the same — 164 Wednesday and Thursday.
- Inpatient confirmed COVID positive hospitalizations decreased — from 171 Wednesday to 157 Thursday.
- Inpatient suspected COVID positive hospitalizations decreased — from 139 Wednesday to 122 Thursday.
- The number of confirmed COVID positive patients in the ICUs decreased — from 41 Wednesday to 40 Thursday.
- The number of confirmed COVID positive patients on ventilators decreased — from 25 Wednesday to 24 Thursday.
- Across the system hospitals, 37 COVID-19 patients were discharged yesterday, bringing the cumulative number of COVID-19 patients discharged to 3,090.
Gov. Parson was a part of President Donald Trump's round table about how to safely return children to the classroom, and he said the return is about more than just learning for many children.
You've got a lot of kids out here, if they're not going to school, they're in harm's way every day," Gov. Parson said. "We know that 60% of calls on neglect and abuse are not there anymore which means, there nobody reporting it. So if those kids go to school, they're going to have a relationship with their teachers, they're going to have a relationship with their friends and we're going to be able to get back to protecting these kids."
On Thursday, the Department of Health and Senior Services and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education released a joint document answering frequently asked questions about the return to classrooms in the fall.
Earlier this week, the Missouri State Board of Education passed two emergency rules establishing hybrid instruction models for districts that want them, paving the way for districts to reopen schools, according to KCUR-FM.
Deputy Education Commissioner Kari Monsees said the new rules will allow schools to build on the contingency plans they already have for snow days and other short-term school closures.
School districts can either have students attend class every other day or have one group of students attend in the morning and another in the afternoon. By dividing students into two groups to attend class on alternating days and times, it will also help schools maintain adequate social distancing on buses.
For a full county-by-county breakdown of cases in the state, use our interactive map. Some of the local county numbers come from local health departments and may not match data from the DHSS.