The Platte County Health Department’s board of trustees was scheduled to hold its regular meeting Tuesday, June 16 after the Citizen’s deadline. Last week board members were still discussing the feasibility of holding the 2020 Platte County Fair at their work session.
A final decision is expected to be made by the Platte County Fair Association board of directors at its Wednesday, June 17 meeting.
The board’s most recent discussions on Tuesday, June 9 about the Platte County Fair shifted the bulk of responsibility to the county fair board. According to the statements issued in recent weeks by Gov. Mike Parson, county fairs may go on this summer, with social distancing measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in place.
Board members are still dubious if this is a smart move, considering the annual turnout for the fair.
“My brain can’t get around how the fair will happen with social distancing,” said health department director Mary Jo Vernon.
Many county fairs around the state have been cancelled, including the Cass County Fair. The Missouri State Fair is scheduled to go on in August, with protective measures in place and an emphasis on livestock shows and agriculture.
Board members spoke on the importance of individual responsibility to keep COVID from spreading, but also expressed their concerns that people are relaxing their adherence to guidelines.
Chair Dr. Kent Jackson noted he’d seen a reduction in the number of people wearing masks, increases in traffic and other signs that people had returned their behaviors to normal.
“I haven’t gone to any business except Menard’s that really seems to care,” Jackson said.
Board members and health department officials acknowledged that adherence to masking requirements – and disinfection and social distancing measures - seems to be across the board. Some strictly follow guidelines, while some completely disregard them.
“I think a lot of folks aren’t paying attention to what’s going around them and they think there’s not really much of a risk, so you see people not social distancing and not wearing masks,” said board member Paula Owen Willmarth. “If you look at cases across the country, people are continuing to get sick, people are continuing to die, so I think it’s incumbent upon us to continue to impress upon the population that we are still in a serious situation and social distancing and mask wearing are the only things we know can stop the spread until we’re able to reach herd immunity.”
Concerns about controlling crowds at the fair and enforcing any masking requirements were mentioned several times, with additional discussions of the difficulties of trying to get crowds to comply during extreme heat or rain.
Board members also discussed the possibility of a scaled-down fair.
Also at the meeting, Vernon said she had been in contact with the county commissioners to begin the process of receiving federal CARES Act funding
CURRENT NUMBERS
As of Tuesday, June 16, the number of COVID-19 positive cases in Platte County is at 193 with 94 of those cases within Kansas City and 99 outside of the city limits, in unincorporated areas and municipalities such as Parkville, Riverside, Platte City, Weston and more.
Between April 21 and June 15, 650 tests have been administered by the health department, with 15 positive tests recorded and results pending in 15 cases. The Missouri National Guard conducted testing in Platte City last week, administering another 521 tests.
As of Monday, June 15, 16 hospitalizations have been reported outside of Kansas City, along with three deaths, all of which are associated with an outbreak at a Riverside long-term care facility. No deaths have been reported in the portion of Kansas City within Platte County.
Additional breakdown of trends is available online at plattecountyhealthdept.com and kcmo.gov.