© 2024 St. Louis Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

As Coronavirus Cases Climb, Residents In These Missouri Counties Don't Have Stay-At-Home Orders

Missouri Republican Gov. Mike Parson has so far declined to issue a statewide stay-at-home order,
Aviva Okeson-Haberman
/
KCUR 89.3
Missouri Republican Gov. Mike Parson has so far declined to issue a statewide stay-at-home order,

About 1.8 million Missourians are not under a stay-at-home order as the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the state rose to 1,834 Thursday, according to a KCUR analysis. 

Missouri Republican Gov. Mike Parson has so far declined to issue a statewide order, instead saying cities and counties are best equipped to make the decision for their area. Most Missourians, about 70%, are under a county or city stay-at-home order. 

Parson has defended the decision in daily virtual press conferences, saying it would shut down businesses and result in job losses.

Parson said Thursday that part of the issue is essential businesses differ from urban to rural areas but the state is working to “figure out a solution” and he will announce more information Friday. 

“When you are the governor of the state of Missouri and you try to do a statewide order, our state is so diverse. Every segment of the state is different,” Parson said. “And it’s very difficult sometimes to just put a blanket order in place.”

A number of groups, including the Missouri State Medical Association and Missouri Nurses Association, have called on the governor to enact a statewide shelter-in-place requirement.

“If things progress as is, COVID-19 patients will deplete the state’s available hospital beds, ventilators, and precious personal protection equipment,” MSMA president James DiRenna wrote last week. “Any additional time without a ‘shelter-in-place’ requirement wastes crucial healthcare resources, including manpower.”

Aviva Okeson-Haberman is the Missouri government and politics reporter at KCUR 89.3. Follow her on Twitter: @avivaokeson .

Copyright 2020 KCUR 89.3. To see more, visit .

When Aviva first got into radio reporting, she didn’t expect to ride on the back of a Harley. But she’ll do just about anything to get good nat sounds. Aviva has profiled a biker who is still riding after losing his right arm and leg in a crash more than a decade ago, talked to prisoners about delivering end-of-life care in the prison’s hospice care unit and crisscrossed Mid-Missouri interviewing caregivers about life caring for someone with autism. Her investigation into Missouri’s elder abuse hotline led to an investigation by the state’s attorney general. As KCUR’s Missouri government and state politics reporter, Aviva focuses on turning complicated policy and political jargon into driveway moments.