Cass County passes measure ending health department’s COVID orders and quarantines
The Cass County Commission passed a resolution Friday which ended the enforcement of COVID-19 related measures and limited the authority of the county’s public health director.
The resolution comes at a time when a growing number of health departments across Missouri are ending their COVID-19 response after Attorney General Eric Schmitt demanded the agencies comply with a court ruling that appears to severely limit the authority of local health officials.
In the resolution, the Cass County Commission said it “believes in the importance of individual freedom” and that “no resident should be forced to quarantine or isolate” due to COVID-19.
The resolution says the Cass County public health director cannot force a person who has tested positive for COVID-19 to isolate or force a close contact of a person who has the virus to quarantine. It also says that any person who is currently in quarantine or isolation “can be released.”
Since Thursday, more than half a dozen departments have announced they are suspending coronavirus-related work after Schmitt, a Republican campaigning for U.S. Senate, sent letters earlier in the week.
In his letters, Schmitt outlined a Nov. 22 decision by Cole County Circuit Court Judge Daniel Green, who ruled the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services didn’t have the authority, under the Missouri Constitution, to “permit naked lawmaking by bureaucrats across Missouri.”
He struck down regulations giving local health departments the power to issue quarantine and other public health orders, such as closing businesses.
The growing realization of the ruling’s possible effects comes amid the emergence of the omicron variant and as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have been on the rise in Missouri. Just over half of all Missourians have been fully vaccinated.
Cass County has recorded 333 cases in the plast week and one death, according to Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. Less than half of the county’s population — 47% — have been fully vaccinated.
This story was originally published December 11, 2021 at 4:09 PM.
