Today’s update discusses:

• a slight increase in cases in the state
• additional business guidelines in St. Charles County
• a decrease in patients in St. Louis region

HEALTH

• On Thursday, Missouri reported 137 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, taking the state total to 7,562 as it nears the end of its statewide stay-at-home order. Health officials in the state warned that with more testing being done, residents should expect to see higher confirmed cases being reported. As of now, these numbers are not changing Governor Parson’s decision to reopen the state on Monday, and he has expressed confidence in the “Show Me Strong Recovery Plan” he announced earlier this week.
• St. Charles County (on the outskirts of the St. Louis metro area) announced the County’s support for Governor Parson’s recovery plan for reopening the state. In addition, St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann announced that while the county will be following the Governor’s recovery plan, the St. Charles County Department of Public Health is also offering additional recommendations for businesses to ensure that residents who choose to frequent a business can do so as safely as possible.

SOME GOOD NEWS

• The St. Louis area has been a hot spot for COVID-19 cases in Missouri, but late Thursday the head of the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task force stated that is changing. The number of COVID-19 patients at hospitals in the St. Louis region is starting to decline, so much in fact that the task force is considering the options for modifying the stay-at-home orders in the coming weeks. While this looks like good news for the region, Dr. Alex Garza urges caution that social distancing, hygiene, and other precautions are still necessary to keep the numbers moving downward.