‘Stay at home, Missouri’: Gov. Parson takes small step forward with coronavirus order

As Missourians in every corner of the state continued to get sick from the coronavirus outbreak, Gov. Mike Parson bent to reality on Friday and announced a statewide stay-at-home order that will take effect Monday.

“Now more than ever, we must all make sacrifices,” he said in a live-streamed appearance from Jefferson City. The order expires April 24. Public and charter schools will remain closed across the state until then.

Any stay-at-home requirement will save lives. Even at this late date, it’s the right thing to do to protect public health.

Yet as the details of the order came into focus, it became apparent that Parson’s announcement was less consequential than it initially appeared. In important ways, the directive merely codifies what the state had already attempted to do in responding to the coronavirus.

“The order is not at all what was advertised and what health care professionals and Missouri residents had been demanding for weeks,” said Missouri Rep. Crystal Quade, a Democrat from Springfield and House minority leader. “It is so riddled with exemptions that it differs little from the weak and ineffective social distancing directive the administration previously issued.”

Friday’s order was actually issued by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. It allows non-essential businesses with fewer than 10 employees or customers (or more, with a state-issued waiver) to stay open as long as they practice social distancing.

At the same time, the order allows cities and counties to impose more stringent lockdown rules than the state. That will lead to confusion and frustration: A bakery or antique store in rural Missouri can stay open, while a small shop in Kansas City must close.

The reasons for that are unclear, other than politics. Critics said the governor wants to keep businesses open in rural areas, where he is popular, while appearing to take action statewide. If so, the tragic misdirection will quickly become evident.

At a briefing Saturday, answering a pre-screened question, Parson said distancing allowances for small business have been effect from “day one,” but did not otherwise clarify Friday’s announcement.

Parson’s obstinate reluctance to require every resident in his state to stay inside except when engaging in essential activities has been mystifying, not to mention dangerous. The number of confirmed Missouri coronavirus cases has continued to balloon, reaching 2,291 at mid-afternoon Saturday. Twenty-four Missourians had died from the highly communicable disease.

Before he finally announced his decision Friday, a half-dozen major medical associations had urged Parson to limit movement in the state.

Yet for weeks, the governor failed to take needed action, even as all but a handful of other governors issued stay-at-home orders. Parson continued to insist that officials in each city and county could make up their own minds about whether to keep everyone at home. He has argued that Missouri is “diverse,” which is true — just like every other state in the union.

COVID-19 is relentless, and doesn’t care about diversity. Missourians can travel. People who pick up the virus in one part of the state can easily transmit it to another.

Forty-one other states, including Kansas, imposed statewide lockdown orders before Missouri. By Friday, Missouri had more coronavirus cases than any state without a stay-at-home order.

Parson’s directive does increase restrictions on some essential businesses, which appear to be more susceptible to spreading the virus. But the key to reducing the deadly impact of COVID-19 remains the same: Missourians, like hundreds of millions of other Americans, should stay inside their homes if they can.

Scofflaws should be fully aware of the consequences of their actions. They will delay the effectiveness of the stay-at-home order, prolonging the shutdown. But if we all are diligent in complying, our state will reopen sooner.

The coronavirus pandemic is growing. Until it slows down, the lives of all Missourians will be changed. There is no way around it.

As Parson advised on Friday, “For the sake of all Missourians, be smart. Be responsible. And follow this order: Stay at home, Missouri.”

This story was originally published April 3, 2020 at 6:11 PM.