KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Dr. Deborah Birx, White House coronavirus task force coordinator, visited Missouri on Tuesday in her most recent stop on a tour of several states.
Birx met with Gov. Mike Parson and other state officials to “provide guidance on COVID-19” in the morning before holding a joint press conference.
The doctor, who appeared at the podium wearing a mask, highlighted many areas in which Missouri was doing well and in which it could improve its response to the coronavirus.
Birx urged Missourians to follow precautionary pandemic protocols.
“Our job in each and every community is to decrease viral spread and a clear pathway forward together to control this virus,” Birx said. “What does that mean? We need every American and everybody in Missouri to be wearing a mask and socially distancing.”
Birx also asked Missourians to think twice about hosting large gatherings, even outdoors, noting an outdoor party in Texas where all 150 attendees tested positive for COVID-19.
With Missouri’s mix of urban and rural areas, Birx said it’s important not only to get consistent mask messaging to all communities, but also to tailor response based on the community make-up.
Birx said she discussed a strategy from Texas, a state with a similar mix of urban and rural areas, with Parson in which any county with 20 or more COVID-19 cases must have a mask mandate.
Where mask mandates are in effect, Birx said communities have a better understanding of the importance of masks, noting Branson as an example.
While a statewide mask mandate may not be in Missouri’s future, Parson said he supports leaders’ decisions in communities where there is one.
“There is no one-size-fits-all approach. Missouri is extremely diverse and communities across the state all have different needs," Parson said. "All Missouri’s high-risk areas have mask mandates, and I support those local leaders in that decision and have since day one."
Parson also encouraged residents who live in areas without a mandate to still wear a mask and social distance.
“This is not just about ourselves,” Parson said. “It is about everyone around us. Our actions do make an impact.”
Another challenge presented in Missouri are its cross-border metropolitan areas on each side of the state in Kansas City and St. Louis.
Birx said from a data analysis prescriptive, her team looks at communities such as these as a whole to account for “intermingling and exposure to the virus” on both sides of a state line.
With viral spread shown to be higher in communities that spread to two states, Birx said action at a national level is key.
“What we're trying to do is have a statewide — but a U.S.-wide mitigation approach in many of these areas that have cross-border activities,” Birx said.
She described Kansas City as at “a high plateau” in terms of case numbers and trends.
On Saturday, Birx visited Kansas, a state which Gov. Laura Kelly says has been designated a COVID-19 “red zone” by the White House.
Birx said she talked with the mayors of Kansas City, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri, to "really understand what is going to be happening in Kansas City."
As far as schooling goes, Birx said her team has been providing governors with county-by-county analysis and so “every single school district should know precisely where they sit on it with test positivity,” adding that a decision on whether or not to open depends on the county and school district.
Parson said the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Department of Health and Senior Services released updated guidance for schools, which includes information about how to handle positive cases and contact tracing.
The departments also released PPE guidance for school nurses, and the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency has made 1.8 million cloth masks available for schools.
“We will continue to focus on the health and safety of our students, school staff and communities, as a whole,” Parson said. “We will move forward with this school year.”
DHSS Director Dr. Randall Williams said the state is doing everything it can to make sure school sports happen safely.
“We just think that's such a big part of education and character development that we are doing everything we can, because we think it's so important to try to make it happen,” Williams said.
Another topic of discussion at the leaders’ meeting was the high percentage of COVID-19 cases in the 20- to 30-year-old patient age range.
Williams said the state was encouraged to focus its public health messaging on that group.
Williams stressed the importance of young people getting tested and getting tested in a timely manner.
“Anecdotally, I have to tell you that I'm getting reports back that they're not getting tested on purpose, because they don't want to go through the circumstances that might create,” Williams said. “That saddens me, because, as (Birx) said, that judgment leads to other consequences among a lot of other people.”
Birx closed her comments with a push for togetherness during the pandemic.
“It doesn't matter if you're a Democrat or Republican, you need to wear a mask and socially distance, you need to not have parties in your backyard and in your living room, and we need to stop the spread of this virus because we can and we will together while we work on developing a vaccine,” Birx said.
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