Fulton City Council requesting more data from the Callaway County Health Department
FULTON, Mo. (KMIZ)
After weeks of discussions about the possibility of a mask order in Fulton, the city council is asking for city specific data from the Callaway County Health Department.
At the Fulton City Council meeting on Tuesday, the council unanimously moved to formally request more information from the health department, including the location, age, and other demographics about COVID-19 patients in the city of Fulton.
This comes as person in charge of that data won't release the information until she receives a written statement from the state health department. The Mayor Lowe Cannell said Dr. Randall Williams of DHSS has given the department a verbal "ok."
If the city does not receive the information or a response in one week, the mayor will send a letter to the state health department, asking for the same infromation.
Several council members said they want to see that date before moving forward with any mask order.
"We need to know how many of the cases in the county reside here," Councilman Jeff Stone said. "I'm fearful that it's less than a dozen of all the county numbers. and if we are trying to enact an ordinance on less than one point one percent of our population... that's not how we should be governing."
Councilman Bob Washington agreed they should see the data, but pushed for the order to move forward.
"We need to have a plan," Washington said"I think we need to get started on a plan and at least have it ready so if we decide we need it, when the data comes in."
The council also moved in a 6-2 to send a draft of an ordnance to the city's attorney for review. He said it is modeled after Springfield, Missouri's order regarding masks.
As of Monday, there have been 243 total confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Callaway county. Of those, 72 were active, and 169 have recovered. There have been two deaths related to COVID-19 in the county.
The council met with Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services Director Dr. Randall Williams last week to discuss a mask ordinance. Dr. Williams said during the meeting that he would leave it up to the local leaders to decide if a mask ordinance was needed.
