Update 7:00 A.M. Friday, May 8: The Greene County Commission updated its "Road to Recovery" order late Thursday. It is similar to the City of Springfield's amendment, but one difference is that the county's order now allows for places of worship to hold in-person services--as long as they follow strict distancing and cleaning rules. You can read the Greene County order here.
The City of Springfield has amended its “Road to Recovery” order, effective immediately, raising the number of people allowed in public gatherings from 15 to 25.
Springfield mayor Ken McClure made the announcement Thursday afternoon at a joint city-county press conference.
You can read the amended order here: City of Springfield amended Recovery Order
The amendment also allows bars, nightclubs, microbrewery taprooms and pools to open, as well as allowing fitness classes and non-contact sports to resume—provided that all of those activities follow strict distancing and cleaning measures.
At the time of the press conference, the Greene County Commission had not yet voted to amend its order, but the commission is expected to make similar changes late Thursday.
The order specifies that businesses or activities that include an “enhanced risk activity”—which is defined as places that bring people together to share a space in close physical proximity—may reopen, provided that they keep six feet of distance between individuals and don’t have more than 25 people in the facility at a time.
Springfield-Greene County Health Department director Clay Goddard said officials aim to provide more details sometime next week regarding continued reopening phases throughout the summer.
He said those decisions will continue to be made, in large part, through considering community data on the coronavirus.
Greene County’s coronavirus data dashboard can be accessed at http://health.springfieldmo.gov/coronavirus and is updated twice a day, according to the health department.
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