Today’s update highlights:

• updated statewide stay-at-home order
• need for more testing
• recommendation of Kansas City metropolitan area public health directors to extend local stay-at-home order

EMERGENCY POWERS

• Today Governor Parson announced an extension of the statewide stay-at-home order to May 3, 2020. The Governor has stated that conducting 40,000 to 50,000 tests a week will allow the state to accumulate enough data to be confident in re-opening Missouri for business. Governor Parson is confident that tests will be easier to obtain, and he is hopeful that by summer the state will be able to open up more.

HEALTH

• Public Health directors in the Kansas City metropolitan area have issued an official recommendation this week to extend the local stay-at-home orders through May 15. This recommendation comes from the anticipated peak of infection, which is likely to occur at the end of April. Because social distancing is noticeably working, medical officials feel it is important to continue this practice until it is safe to gradually ease up.