The Clay County Public Health Center is mandating the use of face masks in all indoor areas of public accommodation in Clay County beginning Sunday, July 19th.

“Face masks and physical distancing are the two most effective tools we have at our disposal during this time,” said Director of Public Health Gary E. Zaborac. “These simple actions have been proven to reduce the spread of droplets that can carry COVID-19. We are asking everyone in Clay County to do their part to protect themselves and others in our community, especially the most vulnerable.”

Clay County Public Health is reporting over the past two weeks, Clay County has seen a 36% increase in active COVID-19 cases. There has also been a 300% increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations in the past 30 days, with the daily average rising from 10 patients hospitalized to 40. There have been a total of 579 cases of COVID-19 reported in Clay County Public Health Center’s jurisdiction and a total of 20 deaths this year.

Although these numbers may sound impressive, it is important to note that the 579 Covid-19 cases in a county with a population of 249,948, equates to a positive rate of 0.231%. The 20 deaths attributed to Covid-19 equates to a mortality rate of 0.008%.

“It is critical we take this additional step to require masks in order to slow down increases in cases, to avoid overburdening our healthcare system, and to avoid the disruption to our local economy that would come if we would have to return to stay at home orders,” said Director Zaborac.

This announcement from Zaborac comes only weeks after Missouri Governor Mike Parson stated that he felt the wearing of masks had become a political issue. “The mask deal has become a political issue in the media,” Parson said at a recent press briefing. “It’s driven by, you’re on one side of it or you’re not, and it’s politically driven.”

The announcement also comes at a time where public trust in the reporting accuracy of Covid-19 numbers is on the decline. Numerous reports of tests with false positives, individuals who were counted as positive cases numerous times and individuals who have received confirmation of positive test results, even though they were never tested, are beginning to erode a trust in reporting that was polled at 84% only a few months ago.

Most recently, an investigation is underway in Florida after numerous errors were discovered in the reporting of data. This comes as data released from some facilities did not match data that was submitted in the final numbers to the public. For at least the past 11 days, the Florida Department of Health Coronavirus report shows hundreds of laboratories are reporting 98 to 100% of COVID-19 tests are coming back positive and according to the DOH, those statistics are because some private labs aren’t reporting their negative results at all.

The State of Texas had to remove 3,484 cases from its Covid-19 positive case count, because the San Antonio Health Department was reporting “probable” cases for people never actually tested, as “confirmed” positive cases.

In Missouri, The Missouri Hospital Association says it is re-evaluating how to report hospital data publicly. As they have examined the way data is collected, they have determined that individual hospitals’ reporting of data to the association has been delayed and incomplete, resulting in daily reports that have been at times inconsistent and misleading.

On a national level, U.S. Health and Human Services confirmed Tuesday night that due to the inaccuracies in reporting, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will no longer control the coronavirus data collection system from hospitals across the nation. The administration has ordered hospitals to bypass the CDC and send all COVID-19 patient information to a central database in Washington.

Michael Caputo, assistant secretary for public affairs for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said in a statement that the new process would be a faster system. "The new faster and complete data system is what our nation needs to defeat the coronavirus and the CDC, an operating division of HHS, will certainly participate in this streamlined all-of-government response," Caputo said.

More information, including the updated Clay County Public Health Emergency Order, can be found here.

KPGZ News - Brian Watts and Jim Dickerson contributed to this report