COVID policies prompt suit against county health department

ST. CHARLES, Mo. -- A lawsuit accuses a suburban St. Louis health department of violating state law because of its COVID-19 quarantine policies and recommendations for wearing masks in public schools.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported the lawsuit was filed Oct. 27 by the St. Charles County Parents Association. It claims the St. Charles County Health Department broke a new state law giving elected government bodies the authority to review public health orders. It also accused the department of violating the state's open records and meetings law by imposing quarantine recommendations for schools in closed meetings.

The suit said school officials following the health department recommendations "have sent healthy children home from school with mandatory quarantine orders," actions the suit states deprive "parents of their right to children's public education without due process of law."

A spokeswoman for St. Charles County declined to comment Wednesday.