KANSAS CITY, Mo. — With the current statewide stay-at-home order set to expire next week, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said Wednesday that certain parts of the state may reopen quicker than others.
In an interview with 41 Action News anchor Taylor Hemness, the governor said the reopening of the state could be "gradual" and occur in phases.
“From my perspective as governor, I think you’ll see different parts of the state maybe open up quicker than other parts,” Parson said. “It’s where resources are, and how we’re going to do that. We’re in the process right now of working on that.”
He said that data used to target “hot spots” in the state, along with an increase in testing — which he expects to ramp up within the next several weeks — will help give the state a better idea of when areas hit harder by the virus, including the St. Louis and Kansas City areas, can reopen.
“I think that’s where you’re going to give the public the optimism, the safety to think, ‘OK, it’s safe to go back out, it’s safe to go to work, it’s safe where I work, it’s safe to go into those stores,’” Parson said. “We’re going to have to build that, but it’s not something you’re going to be able to flip a light switch on and say everything’s OK.”
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Parson believes the pandemic is still in its early stages in Missouri, and he expects the next two months — at least through the end of June — to be a “tough, tough time.”
“It’s going to take a while. I don’t think there’s any way to sugarcoat that,” Parson said. “It’s going to be months before you can ever get back to a full recovery.”
Even then, the governor said, Missourians should expect life to look much different than it did before COVID-19.
But still, Parson said he can envision a future after the coronavirus pandemic, one where people return to their jobs and go back to stores, restaurants and sporting events.
“There will be a day that things will get back to somewhat normal here in the state of Missouri; I’m confident of that,” Parson said. “We’re just going to have to try to do that balancing act to make sure safety first, but then how do you open up the economy at the same time? That’s what we’re doing every day, trying to figure out that balancing act right there.”
