St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann and the county’s public health director, Demetrius Cianci Chapman, talked about efforts to fight the coronavirus on the latest episode of the Politically Speaking podcast.
Ehlmann, a Republican, has been the leader of St. Charles County since 2007.
The topics included Ehlmann’s stay-at-home order for his county's residents, as well as the statewide order that Gov. Mike Parson put in place Monday. Ehlmann had advocated for Parson to put a statewide order in place. The county executive believes it will make local restrictions easier to enforce.
Here are other topics the St. Charles County officials discussed on the podcast:
- The outbreak is expected to get worse in St. Charles County — with a higher rate of hospitalization — before it gets better, Cianci Chapman said. St. Charles County is on the “front end” of the outbreak, he said.
- Ehlmann is waiting on more information about how much federal funding the county might receive to cover its financial losses from the coronavirus outbreak. He expects to learn more about funding as lawmakers in Jefferson City take up the state’s supplemental budget this week.
- Without knowing how much money the county might receive, Ehlmann said it’s difficult to purchase more personal protective equipment for first responders and medical workers. The county is also having a hard time finding personal protective equipment. Cianci Chapman said the county is currently “searching the globe” for that gear.
- There are limitations as to what type of information St. Charles County can give out about people who have tested positive for COVID-19, Cianci Chapman said. The county may be able to reveal the gender, approximate age and home community of people who test positive, but not much more, he said.
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Music: “Iridescent” by Linkin Park
