93.9 The Eagle – The News and Talk of Columbia, MO
The Columbia City Council gives the local health director the authority to extend the current order limiting the hours for bars and restaurants.
The vote on Tuesday night gives Stephanie Browning the authority to stretch that health order past Sept. 17. Browning says many new coronavirus cases are catching the bug from a close contact.
“They’re using their masks as a substitute for social distancing, which they should not be doing. It also suggests that people aren’t staying home when sick. They’re not washing their hands. And they’re not following a lot of the mitigation efforts.”
Bars and restaurants have to stop serving alcohol at 9 p.m., and close at 10 p.m.. The city resolution says college-age people were gathering in large groups and not social distancing or wearing masks late at night at places serving booze.
Browning says, because there have been so many new cases lately, it is taking up to a week to talk to those positives. She says the plan is to use federal relief money to hire more contact tracers.
“We have that [CARES Act] money so, on our side, we’re going to be able to reallocate some of that money and hire on additional [contact tracers], and I think MU is trying to work at how they can make some changes in their system and bring on some additional staff too.”
