JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Gov. Mike Parson announced the state's stay-at-home order will be extended until May 3 during his daily coronavirus briefing Thursday.
"The numbers were projected to be worse in Missouri had we not taken fast and decisive action to implement social distancing," Parson said.
He said his administration is also working on a plan to reopen the state's economy.
"We have to be looking at two fronts, COVID-19 and the economy," Parson said. "We gotta make sure we got to get all the care we can to protect people, but we also have to make sure we reopen the economy."
Parson said his administration's "Show Me Strong Recovery Plan" rests on four pillars:
- rapidly expanding testing capacity
- expanding reserves of personal protective equipment (PPE)
- continuing to monitor and, if necessary, expand hospital and health care systems' capacity
- improving ability to predict potential outbreaks, using public health data
"The timing may not look the same in every community," Parson said. "Our hardest-hit areas like St. Louis and Kansas City may take longer to fully recover, but we must ready for a slow, but steady road to recovery, with some sort of social distancing."
Leaders in the St. Louis area have announced they would extend the local stay-at-home orders.
Thursday, St. Louis County Executive Sam Page said the county's order will be extended until further notice. His administration will reassess in mid-May.
Also Thursday, St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson announced the city's stay-at-home order will extend for three weeks and she will reevaluate on or before May 15.
On Thursday, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services reported 5,111 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 152 deaths, an increase of 216 cases and 5 deaths from the numbers reported Wednesday.
