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Clay Goddard says large events should continue to be avoided.
SBJ photo by Geoff Pickle
Clay Goddard says large events should continue to be avoided.

Goddard urges caution amid recent rise in cases

Posted online

Springfield-Greene County Health Department Director Clay Goddard this morning issued a warning to the community amid an increase this week in local COVID-19 cases.

"If we keep trying to return to normal and forget that we're still in a pandemic, this disease will continue to wreak havoc on our community," he said at a livestreamed news conference. "We as a community control our own destiny going forward. If we keep going to bars and other spaces and crowd together, this disease will keep spreading."

Goddard and Mayor Ken McClure spoke this morning in the wake of a new one-day Greene County record of 95 COVID-19 cases set on Tuesday. Noting there were 82 new cases yesterday, Goddard attributed much of the increases to the Greene County Jail and long-term care facilities.

He said county residents should continue to avoid large events and gatherings and wear face masks in public spaces, as required under a Springfield City Council-approved ordinance. City spokesperson Cora Scott said at the news conference that police have not issued any citations for violations of the masking ordinance and that the closest they’ve come to doing so involved bars.

Goddard also reminded residents to wash their hands regularly and stay home when sick.

"Masking is not a silver bullet," Goddard said. "We need people to remember to practice all the tools that we have for prevention."

The Health Department this week also announced two new deaths of local residents: a woman in her 90s and a man in his 50s who both had underlying health conditions. There have been 16 local deaths amid the pandemic.

The Health Department's COVID-19 dashboard shows that as of this morning, there have been 1,784 confirmed cases in the county.

Among the cases is an individual associated with Hillcrest High School who tested positive for COVID-19, according to a news release issued yesterday by Springfield Public Schools. The release does not say whether the person was an employee, student or parent.

The district is scheduled to start its semester Aug. 24 with most students attending classes two days a week accompanied with virtual learning.

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kpank@hotmail.com

Why is no one talking about the 99+% RECOVERY rate?!???

Thursday, August 13, 2020
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