Butler County remains at 24 positive cases; Gov. Parson plans to start reopening state on May 4

Butler County’s total number of positive COVID-19 cases hasn’t changed in the last 24 hours, according to officials with the county’s health department.

“Right now, we do not have any more new cases, so we’re standing at 24,” said Butler County Health Department Director Emily Goodin during Friday’s briefing at the Emergency Operations Center.

The last positive case in the county was reported on Thursday, after three days of no new cases.

As of Friday afternoon, the state had tested more than 65,000 people, with 6,625 positive results and 262 deaths.

While the number of positive cases seems to have slowed locally, Goodin said, the health department still wants to “continue with the message about wearing your mask and washing your hands.”

The health department’s new smartphone app, Goodin added, has seen 1,211 downloads and is the quickest way for the public to get up-to-date information on new positive cases.

Hank Voelker with the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency said Southeast Missouri, specifically Scott and Mississippi counties, has seen “an uptick in new cases, but thankfully we don’t see a spike.”

Voelker also noted SEMA’s online application for public assistance is open, and “there’s no deadline right now.”

That application can be found on the SEMA website at https://sema.dps.mo.gov/.

Todd Richardson, director of MO HealthNet, said, “We’ve been working very hard at the state level to make sure that our health care delivery system, from very large hospital systems to very small to community-based service providers, have the resources and tools they need while also getting Missouri ready for a safe and strong recovery.”

That recovery could begin as soon as May 4.

That’s when Missouri Gov. Mike Parson plans to begin reopening the state in phases.

“Since Missouri’s first case nearly 50 days ago, we have accomplished a tremendous amount of work,” Parson said during his afternoon briefing. “We have issued seven executive orders and waived or suspended over 450 state statues and regulations.

“Nearly $40 million worth of personal protective equipment has been ordered by the state, significantly increasing the state’s testing capacity.”

Missouri’s first statewide social distancing order, Parson said, was issued on March 21.

“We have drastically improved the predictions for Missouri, and we are moving forward with our plan to reopen the state on Monday, May 4,” Parson stressed. “Today, I am extending the emergency declaration in the state of Missouri through June 15.”

The governor noted the emergency declaration was not an extension of the stay-at-home order.

“We will be reopening Missouri on May 4 and extending the emergency declaration simply allows us to continue utilizing our resources and deploying them around the state,” Parson said.

The emergency declaration extension also will allow officials to keep the waivers and suspensions of state statutes and regulations in place.

Details of Parson’s plan to reopen the state, he said, will be announced Monday.