White House task force urges Missouri to strengthen COVID-19 health orders
As the risk of COVID-19 rises to a “historic high,” the White House Coronavirus Task Force is urging Missouri to strengthen its COVID-19 public health orders.
“The depth of viral spread across Missouri remains significant and without public health orders in place compelling Missourians to act differently, the spread will remain unyielding with significant impact on the healthcare system,” the task force said in its weekly report obtained by ABC News.
“Mitigation and messaging need to be further strengthened, as other states have done,” said the task force, which identified mask mandates and limited capacity and hours at restaurants and bars as effective practices. “Strong mitigation efforts by neighboring states are showing early impact.”
Gov. Mike Parson recently reiterated his opposition to a statewide mask mandate, despite a surge in new cases.
The recommendation comes at a time in which the White House Coronavirus Task Force warns that the “COVID risk to all Americans is at a historic high.”
“We are in a very dangerous place due to the current, extremely high COVID baseline and limited hospital capacity; a further post-Thanksgiving surge will compromise COVID patient care, as well as medical care overall,” the White House Task Force warned state governors in its weekly report.
On Wednesday, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services reported that 305,370 people have tested positive for the coronavirus and there have been 4,043 COVID-19-related deaths. In Kansas, 162,061 people have tested positive for the virus and 1,679 have died from the disease.
Across the country, more than 13.8 million people have contracted the virus and 272,052 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.
In the report for Kansas, obtained by the Center for Public Integrity, the task force points out that Kansas remains in the “red zone” for cases.
With a rate of 628 new cases per 100,000 in population, Kansas has the ninth highest rate in the country. The national average is a rate of 349 new cases per 100,000 in population. The state is also in the “red zone” with a test positivity rate of 19.6%, which is the third highest rate in the country, according to the report.
Missouri also sits in the “red zone for cases,” with a rate of 468 cases per 100,000 in population, according to the task force. Missouri has the 22nd highest rate in the country. The state is also in the “red zone” with a test positivity rate of 18.6%, which is the fifth highest rate in the country.
All of the counties in Missouri have moderate or high levels of community spread, with 91% having high levels of community spread. Meanwhile in Kansas, 93% of all counties have moderate or high levels of community spread, with 88% having in the high-level category.
Sedgwick, Johnson and Shawnee counties in Kansas had the highest number of new cases over the past three weeks, with the counties accounting for nearly 42% of new cases in the state, according to the report.
In Missouri, St. Louis, Jackson and ST. Charles counties had the highest number of new cases during that time period, accounting for nearly 37% of new cases in the state.
If state and local leaders fail to reflect the seriousness of the virus through their policies, the task force urged public health officials to go directly to the public.
“It must be made clear that if you are over 65 or have significant health conditions, you should not enter any indoor public spaces where anyone is unmasked due to the immediate risk to your health; you should have groceries and medications delivered,” the report said.
“If you are under 40, you need to assume you became infected during the Thanksgiving period if you gathered beyond your immediate household,” according to the report. “Most likely, you will not have symptoms; however, you are dangerous to others and you must isolate away from anyone at increased risk for severe disease and get tested immediately.”
The task force also advised those 65 years old and older to get tested immediately if they develop symptoms. The majority of therapeutics, the task force said, work best early on in the infection.
The report noted many European countries that implemented strong public and private mitigation efforts, but preserved school, have seen clear improvement. In the U.S., states and cities that aggressively mitigated the spread of the virus are leveling out in less than four weeks, the task force said in the report.
“However, in many areas of the USA, state mitigation efforts remain inadequate, resulting in sustained transmission or a very prolonged time to peak – over 7 weeks,” according to the report.
Effective efforts include limiting restaurant capacity to under 25% as well as limiting bar hours until new cases fall below the rate of 50 per 100,000 in population and test positivity rate is under 8%.
In Kansas, 62 counties now have mask orders in place after Gov. Laura Kelly issued a new statewide mask order last month, according to a list compiled by the Kansas Association of Counties. The remaining 43 counties opted out, but many are encouraging or recommending people to wear masks.
The task force is urging, among other things, states to test all students returning to campus from Thanksgiving break as well as conduct weekly testing until the end of the semester.
