Clay County Public Health Center Extends Emergency Order

The Clay County Public Health Center has extended the public health emergency order related to COVID-19 until further notice.

Clay County current case rate is 1.09% and the death rate is .019%

On August 21st, the Health Center released a statement which said, “This includes the requirement that masks be worn in all areas of public accommodation to help prevent the further spread of COVID-19. Although we remain in Phase 2 Step 2 of recovery, schools may reopen and youth sport leagues may resume while following proper COVID-19 safety protocols.”

The emergency order originally went into effect on July 14, and was set to expire at midnight Monday, August 22. The Health Center has come under pressure from citizens who felt that restrictions would be put into place that would hinder the fall high school sports season. To combat this, the Center released a plan which basically left the final decision up to the individual school districts.

Many districts have taken the stance that the current numbers do not support delay of the fall sports season. The districts have reserved the position that if circumstances were to change, they could alter the way the season is approached.

Currently in Clay County, there have been 2,721 Covid-19 cases with 47 deaths. Clay County has a population of 249,948 according to 2019 data. This translates to a case rate in Clay County of 1.09% and a death rate of .019%.

Nationally, the United States recorded 24,920 new cases on August 20. This is the lowest number of new cases reported since June 17th. There were 1,369 deaths reported, which also continues to follow a downward trend.

Despite the declining number of cases and deaths, the Clay County Public Health Center released a statement that seemed to ignore this data.

“Due to the escalating spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, it necessary for the immediate preservation of public health, safety and welfare of the residents of Clay County to take additional steps to mitigate the spread of the disease,” states the health order issued by Gary Zaborac, director of public health.

The extension of the emergency order has been met with an immediate response from Clay County residents, with most opposed to the new order. In Kansas City, Mayor Quinton Lucas issued a similar order which saw similar opposition and the filing of an affidavit at City Hall on Friday calling for his recall. Petition signing sites popped up in a number of Kansas City locations on Friday with many reporting long lines of residents wanting to sign the petition for recall.

KPGZ News – Jim Dickerson contributed to this story