With commissioners saying they did not want to create additional anxiety as they deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, the Laclede County Commission has decided against supporting a stay-at-home/shelter-in-place order at this time.
Laclede County Health Department Administrator Charla Baker said the department presented a draft stay-at-home order at a meeting with the County Commission Monday and it was not supported.
“We were asking for a joint order between the county, the city and the Laclede County Health Department,” Baker said. “We did not receive support from the county on that. It was presented, but it was not accepted.”
At Tuesday’s Commission meeting, Presiding Commissioner Randy Angst said that the county is urging residents to follow the guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control, but they do not see the need for an order that could further anxiety unnecessarily.
“We urge our residents to have a personal stake in this, to stay home if they feel like that is in their best interest and we agree with that, it very well could be in the best interest of many individuals to stay home if they have underlying health issues,” Angst said. “But we also know that at this time we don’t want to have any anxiety or create a level of panic by declaring an emergency at this point. I think we all understand how important this is and we all want to do everything we can to protect the safety of our own families.”
