Cape County to follow state's lead on COVID emergency

The Cape Girardeau County Commission voted unanimously to follow Gov. Mike Parson's lead Thursday in ending a formal state of emergency, which had been in effect in Missouri since March 13, 2020.

The county's emergency management agency director, Mark Winkler, advised commissioners to follow Parson's new declaration of a "targeted state of emergency for the health care system."

In an Aug. 27 release, Parson said a wide-ranging COVID-19 order is no longer needed.

Centers for Disease Control

"The (original) order enabled us to respond to the unknown and everchanging needs of our state. Now we know how to fight this virus and have a solution to ending the pandemic with the vaccine. Today we are terminating the order as our situation no longer demands an expansive emergency declaration," Parson said.

In ending the 18-month state of emergency, the governor's new order targets "the continued needs of Missouri's health care system."

Parson said while the economy has improved, hospitals and other health care providers are "still experiencing strain due to current staffing shortages being exacerbated by COVID-19."

In plain terms, Parson's new order permits him to activate the Missouri National Guard if needed, keeps in place remote notary services and telehealth and allows state agencies to request certain waivers of regulations that would otherwise hinder Missouri's continued response to the pandemic.

Under the old order, more than 600 waivers were granted. In the new declaration, only a maximum of 163 will be permitted.

"(COVID) is still a serious situation but we're honing our response, as per the governor, to the health care system," Winkler said.

Winkler said Cape Girardeau County's enhanced emergency management monitoring will continue with "a virtual activation."

Q&A

Presiding Commissioner Clint Tracy and 1st District Commissioner Paul Koeper heard comments and fielded questions from a small group of attendees at the commission's regular Thursday morning meeting.

In a friendly back and forth lasting nearly an hour, Tracy and Koeper explained the funding processes of county government, the distribution method for CARES Act funding, the way county health board members are either appointed or elected and heard comment about vaccination requirements by certain local companies in the area.

Three of the visitors thanked Tracy for allowing them to talk, an option they said was denied them at the Aug. 25 meeting of the Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center Board of Trustees at the Shawnee Park Center in Cape Girardeau.

Statistics

Winkler, citing a county health department report, said 64,213 people have been vaccinated in Cape Girardeau County thus far with 44.5% having received one COVID-19 vaccine dose and 38.6% finishing the two-dose regimen.

The death toll in Cape Girardeau County is now 143, up two from a week ago.

"Younger people are being impacted most in recent days," Winkler added. He said since last week in the county, there are 67 new COVID cases in the 10- to 19-year-old demographic and 44 new cases in the 20- to 29-year-old age group.