City of Fulton approves emergency measures after another student tests positive for COVID-19

FULTON, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Fulton City Council approved emergency actions at its meeting Tuesday night after another William Woods student tested positive for COVID-19.

At least 10 students have now tested positive for COVID-19 at William Woods University.

The approved measures give the mayor powers to do things like imposing a curfew, shutting down businesses and halting city utility payments.

Those measures were passed by City Council with a vote of 7 to 1.

The mayor issued a declaration of emergency at Tuesday's meeting. Under that declaration, the following orders were enacted:

• All city facilities closed until further notice
• City license and permit deadlines extended
• Penalties waived for unpaid utility accounts due April 15
• Penalties waived related to license and permit renewals
• No utility account will be shut off due to non-payment
• City employees shall work in accordance with schedules and plans put forward by administration leadership

The orders are in effect as of Tuesday and until further notice.

William Woods University president Jahnae Barnett posted to the school's website on Tuesday to announce the new case. It's a slight increase from the nine cases announced by the school on Monday, but the number has grown steadily since the first announced case on Friday.

"While such information is sobering, we were not surprised in seeing at least a modest increase in the number of positive cases due to increased testing and screening, mirroring what is happening across the nation," Barnett said. "We continue to execute our proactive response plan that assures the best care for our University Community and for those affected by COVID-19, and I could not be prouder of our dedicated staff who continue to work around the clock in some cases to address this extraordinary situation."

All 10 known cases of the virus in Callaway County have come from William Woods University. The county health department on Tuesday urged people to stay at home if they could, and asked "non-essential" businesses to limit their interactions with staff and the public. A Spokesman with William Woods says they believe that the school's early spring break played a key role in the spread of COVID-19.

The announcement of the 10th case comes the same day that Fulton Public Schools alerted families that a William Woods University student-teacher had quarantined after they were potentially exposed to the novel coronavirus. The letter said Fulton schools did not know of any COVID-19 exposure of their staff or students from William Woods University students.

*Editor's note: This article has been updated with information from the emergency declaration