Some Missouri officials urge schools not to follow new state COVID-19 guidance

Some local officials — including in Kansas City and St. Louis County — have urged their schools not to follow the new relaxed statewide guidance for when to quarantine.

Under the new guidance, students and staff who have been in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19 do not have to quarantine if all parties were properly wearing face coverings and they do not experience any coronavirus symptoms.

“Based upon the advice of our Health Director and given the increasing uncontrolled spread of COVID-19 in our community, we respectfully cannot recommend schools in Kansas City follow the updated non-quarantine guidance shared from Jefferson City today,” Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said. “Masks continue to be one of the best ways to slow the spread of this virus, and I hope the governor’s acknowledgment of their benefit will encourage more to wear them. Still, masks are not a substitute for proper quarantine measures in schools or elsewhere — particularly as we’ve seen a concerning spike in cases over the past several months.”

As of Thursday, when the new guidance was announced, nearly 26,000 new positive cases have been confirmed in Missouri over a seven day period. Per the state’s methodology, Missouri has seen a nearly 41 percent positivity rate over that span.

Read more: https://themissouritimes.com/some-missouri-officials-urge-schools-not-to-follow-new-state-covid-19-guidance/