KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The state of Missouri will fully reopen Tuesday under Gov. Mike Parson's "Show Me Strong Recovery Plan." The state will enter Phase 2, which lifts all restrictions.
Local officials, however, will still have the option to put further restrictions or ordinances in place.
Several counties in the Kansas City metro, such as Cass and Clay counties, will follow Missouri's orders.
Cass County Health Director Andrew Warlen said Cass County will continue to monitor data and base future decisions off that.
"If it makes sense for us to do an order because we're seeing a surge of cases in certain environments, we'll look at that," Warlen said. "I understand everyone's desire to get back to normal, but we unfortunately aren't really living in normal times."
The city of Independence is currently still in Phase 1 of its recovery plan with restrictions on city facilities and gathering limits.
Mayor Eileen Weir said a recent outbreak serves as a reminder that now is no time to ease up on best practices.
"We just will, as everyone is, continue to see if there are spikes in cases, in hospitalizations, and if we are able to manage those," Weir said.
Dr. Dana Hawkinson with the University of Kansas Medical Center called the rise in numbers across the country "scary." He said social distancing will play a huge role this summer.
“I think the other day I saw 2 million cases at least," Hawkinson said. "That’s still less than 1% of the total population, so you still have a pretty big susceptible population."
As counties ease restrictions, Warlen worries people will ease up on wearing masks and social distancing.
"We all need to take care of each other and be considerate and stop the spread any way we can," Warlen said.
Beginning Tuesday, Clay County's emergency order will ease restrictions on occupancy, allowing 50% of indoor occupancy. It expires July 5.
Platte County also will ease restrictions to 50% indoor occupancy limitations.
Jackson County remains in Phase 2, with no set date announced yet for Phase 3.
The city of Kansas City, Missouri, will continue its current restrictions until at least July 5.
