ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - St. Louis County Executive Dr. Sam Page announced seven new initiatives that will begin this week in hopes of slowing the spread of COVID-19 in the community. Those include limiting gatherings to no more than 50 people, rolling back occupancy for businesses to 25%, and closing bars at 10 p.m. each night.
Dr. Page says he is "not dismissive" of the impact on businesses, but did stress the need for widespread adoption of guidelines so that more drastic measures won't have to be taken later in the year. Page says it will take several weeks to see an impact from the new measures announced on Monday.
"Contact tracing, social media and common sense tell us that one of our challenges is bars and other late-night venues where social distancing, mask wearing, and other requirements just aren't being followed," says Page. "The late-night and early morning hours are the times when we see less mask-wearing and less social distancing and crowds that simply aren't complying with our social distancing guidelines."
Page says there will be a graduated process for businesses that do not comply with coronavirus restrictions, including, when necessary, asking them to close.
Here are the seven restrictions on businesses and social gatherings that will begin at 5 p.m. on Friday:
- No more than 50 people allowed at a social gathering in St. Louis County. All pre-approved gathering will be contacted by the County Health Department.
- Occupancy limited to 25% on all businesses.
- All bars will close at 10 p.m.
- New plans for closing businesses that aren’t playing by the rules. "We will, when necessary, ask them to close," Page says.
- Anyone waiting for results of a COVID test should self-quarantine until those results are in.
- Taking actions to make sure health providers are reporting test results properly. It hasn’t been happing in all circumstances, Page says.
- More support will be given for teachers to have safe places to quarantine.
More details will be released later this week, Page says.
"The decisions we are making today, will not bend the curve for at least three weeks," Page says the hope is the measures will prevent further restrictions this fall.
The St. Louis Pandemic Task Force released a statement about the new restrictions, saying they fully support the changes.
“All of the COVID metrics are moving at a concerning and unsustainable rate, including increasing cases, percent positives of testing, and hospital admissions. We must act now to avoid further spread, hospitalizations and deaths which typically follow rapid increases in cases”, said Dr. Alex Garza, Incident Commander for the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force. “We must take these steps if we want to flatten the curve, get our kids back playing sports and in school full-time, as well as keep everyone safe and healthy.”
“These aren’t easy decisions and not something we take lightly, particularly because we know it will impact people’s livelihoods. In order to prevent spread, it takes the efforts of the community. We all must do our part by always wearing a mask in public, regardless if required or not, stay socially distant, and not gather in large crowds. By taking these actions now we hope to avoid all the negative consequences of the pandemic, both to human health and the economy,” says Dr. Garza.
Here's the full announcement from Page:
#BREAKINGNEWS:St. Louis County Executive @DrSamPage announces 7 newCOVID-related initiatives starting this Friday. Those include:- No more than 50 people in social gathering- Occupancy back to 25% at all businesses- All bars will close by 10pmhttps://t.co/LNXfG2gXW4
— KMOX St. Louis News (@kmoxnews)
July 27, 2020
Confirmed COVID-19 cases have risen sharply in Missouri over the last couple weeks. The state has been setting a new daily record for new confirmed cases – on a nearly daily basis.
Page also reiterated that he believes parents should opt for virtual learning this fall.
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