Missouri Governor Mike Parson Coronavirus Briefing March 19

Mike Parson: (00:00) I've got a letter that I'm getting ready to send to the President about the utilization of our Guard here in the State of Missouri, how I can utilize that more without going through the federal guidelines to put that under the Governor's control. I think there's things like that we're doing every day. But you're going to see I think a wave of different policies of the regulatory environment that we're going to be looking for waivers for. There's going to be a lot of them, so we'll try to keep you updated on that daily as we go through that and at some point we'll probably just release, "Hey, here's all the waivers we've done." Speaker 2: (00:28) [inaudible 00:00:36], is that still the same? Mike Parson: (00:36) Yeah, yeah. Dr Weaves, what is the update? Go ahead and give them an update on that. Dr. Weaves: (00:43) Thank you for asking. We did a 62 tests today that came off a little early. We've had four new positives. We were in the process of notifying those local health departments so that they can notify. We're updating every day at 9:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. We changed it one hour to give the locals some more time. So I would suspect that by nine o'clock tonight that will be on our website where those are. Speaker 2: (01:09) So, 28 cases? Dr. Weaves: (01:12) Yes, 28 total cases and as we've talked about, we're not going to constantly update you on the number of labs we're doing because now I've been in contact today with numerous, numerous commercial labs and university labs that are doing lots of tests. So really the number going forward that'll be [inaudible 00:01:32] is just the number of positives. Speaker 4: (01:33) Doctor. Dr. Weaves: (01:36) Yes. Speaker 4: (01:36) Are you aware if there are any public or private sites within Missouri that are helping in the pharmaceutical treatments for this virus? Dr. Weaves: (01:48) It's my belief Wash U is. I may be wrong on that, but I believe they are. And again, just want to reiterate what the Director Carsten said, we have 14 mobile sites in Missouri now, which we're incredibly appreciative of. And I've talked to several of them today. They did 100 tests in Springfield yesterday. They did 100 at Mercy, I believe yesterday. Charlie Shields, I believe, in Truman, I believe they're one of the ones too. So we've talked about pushing forward to getting it into surveillance and our private partners have done a great job of that with 14 sites already up. And then ours will be joining them shortly. Thank you. Speaker 5: (02:27) We'll take one more question then I think, Governor, you can close it. [inaudible 00:02:30]. Last question. Speaker 6: (02:30) [inaudible 00:02:33]. Mike Parson: (02:30) I think what I said earlier, we're trying to make sure we're keeping people out of small groups. We're trying to make sure people who can work at home can work at home. We're doing alternative shifts, bringing people in on the weekend. But look, state government's got to keep going. There is no options to that. We have to be here to deliver the services to the people of this state. I say this, the front line where we're at today, and it's just as important for me the Governor to be here every day. To be at a time of leadership, you have to be here to lead and I don't think you can do that at home. So we're going to continue to do that. We'll be looking at all categories. If we can get people home, we'll get them home. If we can, we'll also be looking at other resources. Mike Parson: (03:17) So if we maybe shut down, for example, the state parks. That frees up people we might be able to use somewhere else for other positions in the state right now, because we know the demand is going to continue to increase here in the state on that. So I know I've said it and I'm going to say it again and I'm going to say it every day, every day we are constantly receiving updates and new information. We will continue to be transparent and share new developments with the public as quickly as we can. However, I want to point out this is not the time to tear each other down. This is a time we should all be working together, no matter where you live, no matter where you're from. This is the time when we all support each other and we show what Missourians are all about, when we show what The Show Me State is all about. Mike Parson: (04:06) It's about all of us working together to help fight this, and frankly to protect people's lives is what we're all in here today for. And that's exactly, at the end of the day, why teamwork is so important to me right now, why it's to having the right people in the right places in state government. That's why people are willing to do that, to step forward to do that. I want to especially thank our medical professionals and first responders for working so hard around the clock and going above and beyond to help our fellow Missourians. The situation that happened Boone County yesterday worked like it should have worked. People were warned that we had a patient was COVID-19. Emergency personnel had the ability to get protection gear on to go to that person and do that. Those things are all important. It's important when we talk about supplies that we get that, because there's days like yesterday that makes a world a difference. It makes a difference between somebody else getting sick or somebody else die. Mike Parson: (05:01) Those are the reality of what we do in here. At the end of the day, we've got to do our part. We've got to realize in the State of Missouri right now we are focused on COVID-19, but I also have to focus on the flooding situations that are starting in Northern Missouri as I speak in front of you today. Thank goodness we've gotten the leadership in this state and we were prepared for that. We knew the possibilities of what was going to happen in flooding. And we're here to be able to do that. Those are the things that's going to rapidly change every day. Our decisions are going to change every day and it's just why we're going to do these daily briefings out here. And it's important when we do give that information, as I told you yesterday, for all of you to make sure we get that information to the public. Mike Parson: (05:42) Because as I said yesterday, fear is not where we want to be. We want to be concerned. We want to be in control as much as we can control ourselves and where we go tomorrow. That is really what's important and that's where we go. Again, I want to thank you all being here today. Thanks for that. We'll keep you updated on the briefings. We're going to be working through the weekend this weekend, so we'll be keeping you updated on the briefings. Thank you very much. Speaker 7: (06:29) [inaudible 00:06:39].