Columbia City Council votes to allow possible extension of health order
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Columbia City Council voted to allow the health department director to extend the current health order by three works or longer at its meeting Tuesday.
The unanimous vote came after a COVID-19 update from Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services director Stephanie Browning
Browning said there was a 206 percent increase in the case rate from the two week period that ended on Aug. 23 to the two week period that ended Sept. 7.
From Aug. 10 to Aug. 23, the county reported 422.21 cases per 100,000 people. Then, from Aug. 24 to Sept. 7, the county reported 871.09 cases per 100,000 people.
Browning added that the community transmission of the virus shows people are not social distancing, not properly wearing their masks and generally not following the efforts in place to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Watch Browning's presentation in the player below.
During her presentation, Browning said contact tracing has been an issue for the health department. She said the goal is to get in touch with close contacts of positive cases within one to two days, but with the increase in new cases it is taking disease investigators five to seven days to finish contact tracing.
Several city council members asked about additional steps the city and county could take to slow the spread of novel coronavirus.
Mayor Brian Treece told the council his goal is to find a way to improve contact tracing, expand access to free testing without doctor's notes and bettering enforcement of the health order. He said he would like to look into raising the penalty for mask violations when the mask order expires on Oct. 10.
Councilman Ian Thomas said he supports White House recommendations to shut down bars and gyms.
"Following these recommendations is the best way to get back to the life we used to live or at least as close as possible," Thomas said.
He also argued that keeping the bars open is the reason schools had to move to online learning.
Browning said before looking at future steps to mitigate the spread of the virus, the department wants to look at the numbers from the Labor Day holiday weekend.
"I would like to see us move forward and do the right thing," Browning said. "Right now we just need to stay the course for another few weeks."
She added that without a statewide plan, it would be hard to take steps back, including shutting down bars and restaurants again, in Columbia and Boone County.
