ST. LOUIS — As the United States hits another benchmark — 5 million coronavirus cases — Illinois and Missouri leaders look for ways to stem the virus' spread in our region.
"If we want to be able to have any kind of normalcy for us — or our kids — for the next six months, we're all going to have to just get behind this mask thing, and wear them," Dr. Jean Wagner, a pediatrician, said.
Wagner said her appointments have been picking up as children get their yearly school and sports physicals ahead of a new school year. And masks are always a part of a patient's visit.
"They understand that it's just part of getting a service with us," Dr. Wagner said. "You have to have it on."
Talking about his new guidelines Sunday, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said the three-step process would penalize any business that didn't comply with Illinois' mask mandate.
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"Every horrible thing we've seen so far is nothing compared to if we threw up our hands right now. This pandemic is not over," Pritzker said.
On the Missouri side of our area, another concern.
Franklin County health officials noted this new trend in an update Friday: "We ask that all individuals tested for COVID-19 strictly quarantine at home until you receive notification of the test results. We are seeing an alarming number of cases return to work and attend gatherings after being tested while awaiting results. This unnecessarily exposes many others in the workplace and within the community."
Wagner said her staff continues to talk with patients and their parents about masks and social distancing and — for the most part — they're receptive.
"We need to stop looking at this as an 'us against them' and we need to start looking at this as 'we are all in this together against this virus,'" Wagner said. "If we don't all start working together to combat the virus, it's going to take us a lot longer to get through this."