Intro
EXECUTIVE ORDER # 20-06
TO: MARY JO SPINO CORRECTED 3/18/2020
COUNTY CLERK (Page 2)
FROM: FRANK WHITE, JR.
COUNTY EXECUTIVE
DATE: MARCH 17, 2020
RE: AMENDMENT TO COVID-19 STATE OF EMERGENCY
Title
On March 12, 2020, in accordance with the power vested in me by the Constitutional Home Rule Charter of Jackson County, Missouri, and the laws of this state and county, I proclaimed a State of Emergency for Jackson County due to the public health threat caused by the spread of COVID-19. Due to subsequent developments, including updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and on the recommendation of the Governor of the State of Missouri and the County’s Director of Health, I amended this order on March 15, 2020.
Based upon further subsequent developments, including President Donald J. Trump’s recommended cessation of school operations near areas of community transmission; numerous confirmed cases of the COVID-19 illness, including one fatality case, within communities surrounding Jackson County, Missouri; and based upon Jackson County’s desire to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and reduce its residents’ potential exposure to the illness, I am hereby amending my prior order as follows:
That a State of Emergency exists in the County of Jackson, State of Missouri, beginning at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, March 17, 2020, and lasting until at least 11:59 p.m. on Friday, May 15, 2020, due to the public health threat caused by the spread of COVID-19. The following provisions are made in consultation with those enacted by the City of Kansas City, Missouri, and the Core 4 jurisdictions in Kansas and Missouri.
Section 1. For purposes of this Order, all previous references to Section 1 in prior Orders regarding “Large Group Events” are hereby repealed and replaced with the following regarding “Group Events:” For purposes of this Order, the term “Group Event” means any gathering of 10 or more people at any restaurant, tavern, professional, social, cultural, entertainment, or other special event where people are not separated by physical space of at least six feet.
Section 2. For purposes of this Order, “School Operations” means any institution of elementary or secondary education, including but not limited to public, chartered, private, or parochial institutions.
Section 3. For purposes of this Order, “School Operations” does not include a requirement that school buildings be closed if needed to house individuals, distribute food, provide medical care or any other services deemed necessary to protect the life and property of the residents of Jackson County, Missouri.
Section 4. That due to unique characteristics and risks associated with transmission dynamics, the likely spread of the disease based on factors of social distancing, the clinical severity of COVID-19, the lack of vaccine or antivirals as treatment options, the crowd density, the inability to ensure social distancing, and to prevent close contact among Group Event attendees, all Group Events and School Operations are prohibited from taking place in Jackson County, Missouri, during the duration stated within this Order, unless Group Event organizers or School Operations leadership can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Jackson County Director of Health that sufficient mitigation plans for infectious diseases are in place.
Section 5. That the County Administrator is directed, in concert with or acting through the County Director of Health, to immediately make and adopt rules and regulations for the evaluation of approval of sufficient mitigation plans for infectious disease Group Events and School Operations.
Drafter
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Frank White, Jr., County Executive
Dated: _______________________