Springfield-Greene County Health Department director, Clay Goddard, is optimistic the masking ordinance in Springfield is helping to slow the spread of COVID-19.
He told Springfield City Council this week that, while the county surpassed 1000 cases of COVID-19 on Monday, the rate of reported cases seems to have slowed down. The county recently hit an all-time high of 74 cases reported in one day, according to a news release. Sunday and Monday combined, there were 60 cases. Goddard is hesitant to attribute that to the masking ordinance but he said he hopes further evidence in coming weeks will point to masking as the reason for a significant slowing of COVID-19 spread in the area.
Meanwhile, Springfield City Council Monday approved the use of up to $2,748,859 of the Public Health Fund Balance to pay for a contract for additional contact tracing capacity.