The Platte County Health Department has issued an updated order loosening some restrictions originally scheduled to expire May 15 to May 3.
The health department’s board of trustees voted Tuesday, April 28 to revise the stay at home order, which will now expire at the end of the day Sunday, May 3. Businesses will be allowed to reopen under specific guidelines with mandatory compliance required. The full order is available on plattecountyhealthdept.com.
“All individuals should continue to stay at home when possible,” the health department release states. “Individuals at high risk should continue to stay at home and not interact with others except for vital activities. Mass gatherings are still not permitted. A mass gathering is any gathering of 10 or more individuals in a location where physical interaction is possible, whether spontaneous or scheduled.”
On Monday, April 27, a newly-formed advisory group met for the first time and heard reports from health department director Mary Jo Vernon and epidemiologist Erin Sanders.
“The low case count in Platte County has given some people a false sense of security that the virus has minimally impacted our county,” Vernon said at the Monday meeting. “We all know testing across our country and in our county has been woefully inadequate to make a true assessment of our case count.”
Vernon said the world has only had four months to deal with COVID-19 and there are still many unknowns, but the committee and health department are tasked with reopening the community safely. She has heard from community members on both sides of the argument to re-open, she said, and warned against premature loosening of restrictions. In 2003, restrictions were loosened in Toronto, Canada during the first SARS outbreak, resulting in a resurgence that cost many lives.
“Social distancing is the number one non-pharmaceutical method to fight COVID-19 until there is a vaccine, which is probably a year down the road,” Vernon said.
Sanders said daily case counts seem to have peaked on April 10. Cases have declined since, she said, but that number is dependent upon the number of tests administered. Additionally, the cases tracked by the health department reported minimal contacts with people outside their households. Sanders said the health department expects the number of contacts to climb as restrictions are loosened.
The regional peak appeared to be on April 10, in line with Platte County, Sanders said. While case counts remain higher in the more densely populated counties, such as Jackson, cases in Clay and Cass counties are currently following the same trajectory as in Platte County. Another regional peak was reported last week, however.
The St. Louis area — where the bulk of state cases have occurred — has four times the number of cases as the Kansas City area.
The topic of discussion at the Monday meeting were criteria for moving from phase one — lockdown — to the gradual recovery of phase two.
Platte County’s COVID-19 “response, recovery and reopening plan” includes phases and tiers through which the county will move when certain criteria are met. The move from phase one to phase two will happen when the current order ends on May 3.
Criteria for entering the second phase include a sustained reduction in cases for at least 14 days; sufficient staff at the health department for contact tracing; increased access to testing; and communication with hospitals to ensure they are as prepared for additional COVID-19 cases.
Although Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is still a nationwide issue, the Office of Emergency Management (OEM) and the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services are working to get additional PPE, according to the health department’s release.
At the Monday meeting, Platte City alderman Steve Hoeger, who works as an emergency manager at Truman Medical Center and serves on a regional hospital commission, reported that due to COVID-19 Kansas City area hospitals continue to reuse PPE in ways they normally would not.
“From the hospital perspective, none of us are running at the level that we would feel comfortable running at on a routine basis,” Hoeger said.
Parkville alderman and business owner Bob Lock argued that the government should step aside and allow business to manage its own risks.
Lock’s concerns were echoed by several advisory group members at the Monday meeting.
The new order will begin on Monday, May 4.
That order and the associated recovery plan emphasizes the importance of individual and corporate responsibility.
Each business located in Platte County, but outside the city limits of Kansas City, is expected to create a “re-opening plan” outlining steps that will be taken to protect employees and customers. Each business is also expected to display those mitigation measures on or near the entrance doors.
Customers, based on what they see posted, can then make informed decisions about which businesses they wish to patronize.
Each food establishment located in Platte County, but outside the city limits of Kansas City, must submit a detailed re-opening plan to the Platte County Health Department in order to open dining rooms in compliance with the order.
A summary of mitigation measures in the plan, including instructions for customers, must be posted on or very near the entry doors to the establishment.
Food establishment operators may submit their plans by email to reopenplan@plattehealth.com. Resources for food establishments to use in creating these re-opening plans are available through the National Restaurant Association and on the Health Department’s website, plattecountyhealthdept.com.
District commissioner Dagmar Wood said the county will receive about $6 million in emergency funding, which can be used to help businesses reopen.
Wood also stated that county officials are moving forward with plans to reopen county-owned buildings as soon as possible.
The advisory group tentatively scheduled another meeting for Wednesday, April 29.