Major Problem of the People

Are people following Missouri’s Stay-Home order?

You’d think that with the constant news updates and federal orders being put into place, people all over the country would be taking the words of their federal, state and local government officials as well as the words of news reporters more seriously.  With the current state of turmoil in the world, there is nothing more important than following the rules set in place by the CDC and local health departments.  

Since March 23rd, both Kansas City and St. Louis have been under the Stay-Home order put in place by their respective mayors with the intent of mitigating the quickly spreading COVID-19.  On April 3rd, the Governor of Missouri, Mike Parson, widened the Stay-Home order to the entire state of Missouri, according to Fox 4 News.  

This has resulted in all “non-essential” businesses closing their doors to the public until it is safe enough for them to reopen.  Those businesses that are deemed “essential”, such as grocery stores, banks and gas stations, are required to follow special guidelines to help reduce the amount of people in the establishments at any given time according to KMOV4 News.  

Some of those guidelines include limiting the amount of people that are allowed in at a time as well as implementing rules that allow only those over the age of 16 to enter stores.  This is to try and reduce the number of families, and ultimately the number of people, that enter the stores. Policies and guidelines like these have been seen in effect at places like Menard’s, Costco, Home Depot and Lowe’s, as stated in an article by the Kansas City Star.  

It can be seen all over town that the essential businesses are taking this seriously, but this is only half of what the Stay-Home order entails.  It also means that people should avoid leaving their houses to reduce the number of people in public.  

“I think that it is important for people to follow the order.  If we all were to follow the order then we could get over it quicker and things would get back to normal quicker.  People are losing jobs and possibly being put in bad home-life situations. If we would all follow it, then we could go back and get better,” said Oliva Marshall, sophomore.  

Despite the fact that the CDC and local health departments are making it very clear that people need to take the Stay-Home order seriously, there are still some people that disregard these warnings.  

“I think that some people are taking the order seriously; mainly adults or people who are related to people who could be seriously affected by the virus.  I also think that a lot of teenagers are just looking at this as more time off though,” said Marshall.  

As things are progressing with COVID-19, there has never been a more important time to listen to what the CDC, local health departments, and government officials are telling us to do in regards to your health and the health of everyone around you.  This is not just a you-problem. This is an us-problem, and no one is in this alone.