State leaders go over demand for food and medical supplies during COVID-19 briefing Saturday
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
Gov. Mike Parson and state leaders held a daily COVID-19 briefing Saturday at 3 p.m.
During Saturday's briefing, state leaders discussed the demand for food in the state, the number of hospital beds available, and more.
You can watch the governor's news conference in the media player below.
Parson declared a statewide stay-at-home order during the COVID-19 briefing on Friday. Missouri joins other Midwest states like Illinois and Kansas who already had similar orders in place.
As of Saturday afternoon, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services said at least 2,113 people around the state have tested positive for novel coronavirus.
The health department's website said there are 74 confirmed cases in Boone County. It also said there were more than 1,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported across St. Louis County and St. Louis City.
Sandy Karsten with the Department of Public Safety said the delivery of personal protective equipment has been slow, but she expects the state to receive more next week.
Karsten said the state ordered 4.3 million N95 masks last month, but to date, only 25,000 have arrived.
Parson said the food supply in the state remains strong.
He said the state-wide order will not prevent people from getting groceries but will limit the number of people allowed in stores to practice social distancing.
Randall Williams with the Missouri Department of Public Health and Senior Services provided an update on the number of hospital beds available in the state.
Williams said there are around 3,500 beds out of 10,000 available in the state. He also said there are around 1,100 ventilators available out of 2,000.
Williams also said one change will require providers to report a death from Coronavirus within 24 hours which should make figures more accurate. That mandate will go into effect Sunday.
The governor tweeted Saturday he will be joined at the news conference by the director of the state's agriculture department and the CEO of a St. Louis food distribution company to talk about Missouri's food supply.
