‘Taking steps to protect human life during a pandemic shouldn’t be political’
As promised, St. Louis County Executive Dr. Sam Page vetoed two bills on Monday, October 26 passed by the County Council 4-3 last week that would have put time limits on his authority during an emergency and on public health restrictions during this coronavirus pandemic.
“The legal effect of these bills will end key public health protections that limit the spread of COVID-19 in our community. And these protections have put St. Louis County in a much better place than the rest of the country,” Page said.
“And with growing numbers across the state and across the country, St. Louis County cannot give up fighting against COVID-19. But giving up is exactly what bills 222 and 223 is asking St. Louis County to do.”
Page’s vetoes were upheld by the Council the following day, when a 3-3 vote failed to override.
Page said the COVID-19 pandemic had already cost the lives of 870 St. Louis County residents, with 30,000 infections, with many more residents having to go through isolation and quarantine for prolonged periods of time. Page said that all ZIP codes in the county have been affected by the coronavirus, with disproportionate impacts on African-American and Hispanic residents.
He said the council members who supported the vetoed bills were voting to put an end to five public health orders from the Department of Public Health.
“They would no longer have the ability to define when a positive case or a suspected positive case should be quarantined or should be isolated, or others who are exposed should be quarantined. They would end the ability of the Department of Public Health to require masks; they would end the ability to set capacity limits at 50% or limit gatherings, which are currently limited to 50,” Page said.
“They would limit the Department of Public Health’s ability to require nursing homes to report positive cases or deaths in nursing homes. And they would end the ability of the requirement that all positive tests, negative tests, and deaths are immediately reported to the Department of Public Health.”
Page said those actions are commonsense, elementary, public health rules.
“They set the basis for isolation and quarantine. They ensure that we can provide the public with the most accurate, up-to-date information to help people understand the data behind how we are making our decisions,” he said. “They protect our grandparents, they protect our children and schools, and they protect our frontline workers.”
Page said without knowing what orders were being terminated, council members tried to wrest control of crafting public health orders from public health officials – and take it for themselves.
“The lives of those who are struggling with COVID-19 are being tossed around like a political football,” Page said. “The public health decisions should be made by public health experts – they shouldn’t be political. Taking steps to protect human life during a pandemic shouldn’t be political. Designing protections to make sure that our economy will rebound after a pandemic shouldn’t be political.”
Attending the county executive’s news briefing and speaking in support of keeping health restrictions in place were representatives of the service sector, the Black clergy and the NAACP.
“These orders keep workers in our community safe,” grocery worker Lamia Terrell said. “We should trust experts above all else when dealing with a health crisis.”
“As people of faith, it was our prayer that the St. Louis County Council would have done the right thing by placing the safety of our citizens above politics and vote down bills 222 and 223,” said Bishop Elijah Hankerson, president of the St. Louis Metropolitan Clergy Coalition.
“Since that was not the case, here we are today, standing in unity with our St. Louis County Executive Dr. Sam Page, commending him for today vetoing the decision of the council.” He said masks and other health orders have helped.
“This is not the time that to take steps backwards,” said John Bowman, president of the St. Louis County NAACP. “Mid-Missouri, the numbers are spiking. We are finding that COVID-19 is not going away if we do not follow the guidelines of public health officials. I would hope the rest of the council members would follow those leads of professional health care officials that say we cannot take these aggressive steps backwards.”