COVID-19

The daily number of new coronavirus cases in the St. Louis region is reaching a level not seen since January. Hospitals also are reporting an increase in COVID-19 patients.

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt ordered school districts across the state to cease and desist COVID precautions. Attorney Joe Hatley, who fired back last Friday on behalf of Lee’s Summit, joined “St. Louis on the Air” for a closer look.

Schmitt demands agencies stop ‘enforcing and publicizing any such orders immediately’ or face court action.

The first U.S. omicron case was identified Wednesday – about a week after its discovery in South Africa. While there are concerns about the variant’s transmissibility, the number of mutations it possesses make it easier to detect than other strains.

The case was detected in a St. Louis resident who had recently traveled within the United States, according to the St. Louis Department of Health.

Less than $1.8 million allocated for the initiative has been distributed.

A spokeswoman for the state department of health said ‘there are no plans to use internal or outside counsel’ in order to pursue an appeal

Jurisdictions with mask mandates averaged 15.8 cases per day for every 100,000 residents, compared to 21.7 in unmasked communities.

COVID-19 cases rose 20%, hospitalizations 30% since the end of October

A federal judge in St. Louis on Monday temporarily barred the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services from requiring health care workers in Missouri and nine other states to get the COVID-19 vaccine.