JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Extended business closures by local health departments, as seen earlier in the coronavirus pandemic, would require city council approval under a bill passed Thursday by the Missouri House.
Primarily Republican lawmakers, particularly incensed by frequent business restrictions enacted in St. Louis and St. Louis County to stem the spread of COVID-19, want health officials to get buy-in from elected local governing bodies before shutting down stores.
The legislation, passed 115-44, would still allow local health directors to close businesses, schools and churches, but only for 15 days at a time. After that, they would need approval from the city council or other local governing boards to extend closures.
The threshold for keeping businesses closed would increase over time. Eventually, it would require unanimous approval from the local governing body to extend closures for up to 10 more days at a time.
St. Louis Republican bill sponsor Rep. Jim Murphy said he crafted the bill in response to business owners and citizens who “yelled for help and wanted some say in their lives when it came to how health departments restricted their businesses.”
He said his proposal still allows health departments to respond to emergencies but adds oversight and public input on those decisions.
Some Democrats also supported the bill, although others raised concerns about local legislative bodies rather than medical professionals being tasked with oversight of health-related decisions.
The measure now heads to the Senate for consideration.
Also Thursday, Gov. Mike Parson announced that a mass vaccination event will be held on March 19-20 in the Arrowhead Stadium parking lot in Kansas City, with a goal of vaccinating at least 6,000 residents with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which requires only one shot.
The event is only for Jackson County residents, and names will be chosen from a list of those who have signed up with the Jackson County Health Department. Only those with appointments will receive the vaccinations at Arrowhead Stadium.
A similar event is planned in St. Louis but details are being finalized.
At the news conference, Dr. Randall Williams, head of the state's health department, said Missouri anticipates receiving a regular weekly supply of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine by the first week of April.
Meanwhile, the state revealed that weeks of public data presented by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services that suggests a high rate of COVID-19 vaccinations among multiracial residents is likely inaccurate.
State officials said Wednesday that the earlier data overcounted residents with more than one racial heritage, KCUR reported. As a result, the publicly available information suggesting that more than one-third of multiracial Missourians has received shots is likely wrong. Officials say it’s unclear to what extent the overcounting skewed the data.
Health officials say accurate racial breakdowns are critical to understanding if the vaccine is being equitably distributed to minority communities.
Health department spokeswoman Lisa Cox said the state initially hoped to be able to correct the data quickly, "but the more conversations we have with providers, the more we find further complexities of the situation,” she told KCUR in an email.
Cox also said the problem appeared to be related to data reported by vaccinators. She said that data shows a higher number of “individuals reported with more than one race” than the state expects.
The state on Thursday reported 530 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus, and three new deaths. Missouri has cited 482,224 confirmed cases and 8,300 deaths since the pandemic began.
