KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missouri Gov. Mike Parson says he won't "mandate who goes in the front door of your home" this holiday season.
Traditional holiday gatherings have repeatedly been discouraged by public health officials during the pandemic in their efforts to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
In a series of tweets Friday evening, the governor denounced government mandates on gatherings in homes, and instead said it's up to Missourians to "take responsibility for our actions."
"Government has no business going through the front door of your homes to decide how many members of your family are there, how many are not," Parson wrote.
He cited data which he said showed there was no surge in COVID-19 cases after Thanksgiving and thanked the state's residents for altering their holiday plans.
"I know this Thanksgiving looked very different for my family and for many of us, but we can see from our data that those actions are making a difference," Parson said.
The governor did acknowledge the "high volume" of COVID-19 cases Missouri is experiencing, though he said numbers are "stabilizing."
According to 41 Action News data analysis, Missouri has seen 385,101 cases and 5,291 deaths due to the coronavirus throughout the pandemic as of Friday.
To conclude, Parson asked Missourians to again be cognizant of COVID-19 as they arrange holiday plans and make "behavior changes" accordingly.
