The Platte County Health Department issued masking recommendations and announced a new community testing program in the wake of a special meeting held last week.
On Friday, Aug. 6, the board of trustees announced a series of public health recommendations for Platte County, including:
Receiving the COVID-19 vaccine
Wearing a mask or face covering, for all aged five and above, regardless of current vaccination status
Those who have been fully vaccinated who have had exposure or suspected exposure should be tested 3-5 days after exposure and should wear a mask in public settings for 14 days until a negative test result is received
Universal indoor masking for all teachers, staff, students and visitors to schools, regardless of vaccination status
The county is as an area of high transmission, meaning more than 100 positive COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents in a 7-day period. The case count as of Aug. 6 stood at 239 per 100,000 residents, with the delta variant being the dominant threat.
More than a dozen people spoke at the meeting of the health department board of trustees held Thursday, Aug. 5 at the Platte City Middle School. Though the meeting was recorded and streamed live, the audio was largely muffled.
The majority of speakers — who were limited to three minutes each —questioned the need for a new mask mandate and criticized requirements announced by local school districts for students and staff to wear masks as they head back into the classroom later this month. A few spoke in support of mask mandates, citing the rising case counts in Platte County and across the area.
Health department director Mary Jo Vernon spoke after the public input, noting there is a wealth of information as well as misinformation circulating about the pandemic. Vernon said she is regularly in contact with Children’s Mercy Hospital and the number of children testing positive has been steadily on the rise.
An audience member admonished Vernon to be honest.
“I am being honest; I am quoting facts,” she said. Lies have circulated on social media that case counts are going down, when in fact they have been going up, she said. The viral load in the sewer system – for Platte City alone – has shown a tremendous spike. The numbers have shown that Platte County is entering the red zone for new cases, showing rampant spread in the community.
“It’s not about giving up our freedoms,” she said. “We have to come together and we have to care about each other and we have to continue to promote health in the county. All this division isn’t going to bring this to an end.”
On Monday, Aug. 9, the department announced stepped up testing in Platte City due to recent results from sewershed surveillance in Platte City.
During the weeks of July 19 and 26, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) saw increasing trends in concentrations of COVID-19 genetic fragments in wastewater from the Platte City (Platte County) sewershed.
The testing event will be held Fri., Aug. 13 at the Platte County Health Department’s Platte City office, lower level parking lot, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. No registration is required.
Sewershed surveillance metrics are not a direct estimate of the COVID-19 positive human cases in the area. Rather, they provide an indication that COVID-19 transmission is likely increasing among the population in sewershed areas.
DHSS and the Platte County Health Department encourage you to attend an upcoming free testing event, whether you are experiencing symptoms or not. Community testing events such as this can provide helpful information to better protect yourself and your family.
For information on this event and other free testing options in Missouri, visit health.mo.gov/communitytest or call 877-435-8411.