Missouri officials say COVID-19 projections come from industry, academia
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
The director of Missouri's Medicaid program sought to clarify Tuesday how the state is getting COVID-19 case projections and how those estimates are used.
MO HealthNet director Todd Richardson made the comments during Gov. Mike Parson's daily COVID-19 briefing in the Capitol. Parson said he wanted the state to clarify the use of its data after questions about the role of a retired general's consulting group in advising the state's COVID-19 response.
Watch a replay of the briefing in the media player below.
The McChrystal group, heading by retired Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, does not create COVID-19 models for the state, Parson said.
Instead, Richardson said that data comes through a partnership with the Missouri Hospital Association and Washington University in St. Louis. The data uses hospitalizations and other data to project a regional range of outcomes in relation to COVID-19 cases, Richardson said.
"It is not designed to be a crystal ball that can see the future," Richardson said.
The data can give officials an idea of the transmission rate of COVID-19 in certain areas. Richardson said the data show transmission has slowed slightly statewide.
Data the state is tracking also show a 17 percent decline in the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations since their early-April peak, an increase of testing and decrease in rates of those testing positive as well as a lowering of the number of people going to emergency rooms with symptoms related to influenza or COVID-19.
Parson encouraged Missourians to buy from Missouri businesses to help kickstart an economy battered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe, who oversees the Buy Missouri program Parson created in 2018, also spoke at the briefing.
Parson also used the damage wrought by storms that went across the state Monday to illustrate that disasters and other challenges won't stop because of the pandemic.
Monday marked Missouri's first day after a statewide stay-at-home order expired. The state is now operating under a reopening order that allows all businesses to resume operations.
Local jurisdictions can implement more strict regulations, as Boone County leaders have done.
Parson said Monday that a major increase in state COVID-19 cases was from testing at Triumph Foods in St. Joseph. The state health department reported Tuesday that 412 workers who showed no symptoms had tested positive.
The state health department said Missouri added 162 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday. The health department's Twitter account included a spike in deaths was caused by a delay in reporting over the first three days of the month.
