Butler County goes more than a week without positive COVID-19 test

As the COVID-19 version of Cinco de Mayo took place, Butler County hadn’t had a positive coronavirus test in more than a week.

Butler County has not had a positive test since it had two cases during the weekend of April 25-26.

Emily Goodin, Butler County Health Department administrator, said the health department also resumed doing inspections on Tuesday, with compliance to social distancing guidelines being among the things restaurants needed to follow, which includes not exceeding 50% capacity.

Goodin added that the health department has been fielding some phone calls and answering questions related to the enforcement letters it sent out last week about the guidelines, but so far there have been no complaints or problems.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson said as of 2 p.m. Tuesday there were 8,916 cases of coronavirus in Missouri with 377 deaths and more than 95,000 tests done. The state reported 19 additional deaths Tuesday. Parson said some of those were due to a lag in reporting from the St. Louis area and the deaths occurred earlier in May.

“We are on the road to recovery and we must continue to take steps to protect ourselves and others throughout the recovery process,” Parson said.

Missouri counties, including Butler County, are expecting to receive coronavirus-related funding on Wednesday, but Butler County Emergency Management Director Robbie Myers said they are waiting on guidance as to how exactly they can spend the money.

The counties can use the funds for coronavirus related expenses, but what exactly that includes is less clear. The state intends to audit how the funds are used two years from now, Myers said, and Butler County doesn’t want to be in a position where it has to return a portion of the funds.

“We don’t want to be wasteful, we don’t want to send it back, but we also don’t want to do something where they are going to claw it back and forcibly take it,” Myers said, adding he hopes additional guidance will be issued sometime next week. “If we can create our own payroll protection program out of that, that would be a relief for all public entities.”