Butler County officials will follow Gov. Mike Parson’s order to end statewide restrictions as Missouri fully reopens Tuesday.
Parson announced the ending of Phase 1 of the state’s plan to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic on Thursday but left it up to local health officials to leave some regulations in place.
“We’re confident that if there is going to be a spike or anything that our hospitals and our partners can handle that,” said Emily Goodin, administrator for the Butler County Health Department.
“We’re going to follow suit with the governor and open up, leave it up to each individual organization on how they want to conduct their own organization.”
The order, which is still affect over the weekend and Monday, requires 6-foot social distancing, limiting capacity in stores and banning visits to nursing homes.
Goodin said a new case was reported to the county Friday, the seventh new positive test for the virus in the past five days.
State health officials reported 195 new cases with 12 deaths, bringing the total to 872 over the past 87 days.
“It is truly incredible to think about how far Missouri has come since March. At that time, no one knew what to expect. There was a lot of uncertainty, worry, and concern,” Parson said Thursday.
“Here we are today, just over 90 days since our first COVID-19 case in Missouri, and I am proud to say we have overcome all of these challenges and more than met our four pillars to reopen.”
One of those pillars was expanded testing.
The Butler County Health Department is currently taking appointments to conduct free testing for any resident age 16 and older.
Testing was also conducted in Ripley, Stoddard and Carter counties this week.
The state reported that 10,000 tests are being administered per weekday over the past two weeks.
Parson also said the state has enough personal protective equipment and adequate hospital capacity to allow the order to expire. The governor did extend a state of emergency through the rest of the year so Missouri can spend federal aid money.
Goodin said she spoke with Butler County Emergency Management Agency Director Robbie Myers and officials at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center following the announcement by Parson to determine the county’s response.
There are currently 26 active cases in Butler County, according to health department stats released Friday. One person is hospitalized with the others in self quarantine.
To make an appointment for testing, call the Butler County Health Department at 573-785-8478.