On March 6, a woman from Saint Louis County tested positive for the virus. A student of Indiana University who had been studying abroad in Milan, Italy, she had flown into O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, on March 3 and traveled to St. Louis via Amtrak on March 4. Two days later, on March 8, family members of the patient violated quarantine, leading Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill School to close. On March 12, the second case in the state was reported, at a clinic in Springfield in Greene County. The person had recently traveled to Austria. On March 13 the second case in St. Louis County, and the third case in the state was also announced. On March 14, Henry County officials confirmed their first case; Greene County confirmed its second case. On March 16, Greene County confirmed its third case. The city of St. Louis announced its first case: a student at Saint Louis University. Cass County reported its first case: a resident of Drexel. Missouri Governor Mike Parson announced on March 18 that a Boone County man in his 60s was the first coronavirus-related death in the state. On March 19, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services announced four more cases of coronavirus in the state, increasing the total number of positive cases to 28 in the state. On March 24, agents with the FBI shot and killed an armed man just before he could detonate a car bomb outside a hospital in Kansas City. The man, identified as 36-year-old Timothy Wilson, was a suspected white supremacist who had been in touch with other far-right extremists and intended to take advantage of the additional stress placed on American society by the pandemic. Wilson allegedly targeted the hospital because he believed it was treating COVID-19 patients. The officer-involved shooting occurred days after the FBI's New York field office and the Department of Homeland Security issued alerts warning of the possibility of far-right extremists and others exploiting the pandemic to commit terrorist attacks. On April 1, St Louis County has its fifth confirmed death from COVID-19. The death came from a man who was around the age of 50 to 59 years old. On April 16, the state surpassed 5,000 positive COVID-19 cases and 150 deaths. On May 4, the state reported a record high number of 368 new COVID-19 cases. That same day salons were given permission by the governor to reopen. On May 23, it was reported that a stylist at one of the salons had tested positive after working eight days while symptomatic. On May 24, the local health department announced that a second hairstylist at the same salon had tested positive. Anthony Fauci has said local outbreaks are "inevitable" as restrictions are eased. On June 12, the Springfield-Greene County Health Department announced that none of the 140 customers and six coworkers that interacted with the hair stylists were infected. The salon required that stylists and clients wear face masks during appointments. On June 17, the University of Kansas Health System reported the state's death rate due to the virus was more than double that of Kansas. On July 8, 82 campers and staff at a Christian Kanakuk K-2 summer camp in Lampe, Missouri tested positive for COVID-19, leading to the camp being shut down. Campers returned home to ten different states, and were required to sleep "head-to-foot". On July 20, a cluster of cases were reported among 19 students and 2 other people were infected with the virus after attending a graduation and prom at St. Dominic High School in O'Fallon.
Government response
Governor Mike Parson declared a state of emergency on March 13. The National Park Service closed the Gateway Arch and the associated museum beginning March 18 until further notice. By March 19, all 555 school districts in Missouri reported some form of district-wide school closures. Many of the school districts were initially closed until at least April 3. Both St. Louis City and St. Louis County issued a stay-at-home order effective Monday, March 23. Various city and county ordinances were enacted in several areas of the state. At the end of March, Governor Parson announced no plans to issue a stay-at-home order. However, on April 3, Governor issued an official stay-at-home order that would be in effect for Missouri from April 6 until April 24, 2020. The order states Missouri residents should avoid leaving their homes unless necessary, giving authorization only to do so for essential activities, essential business, or essential travel with detailed guidelines. On April 16, Governor Parson extended the stay-at-home order until May 3. On April 22, Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed a lawsuit in U.S. federal court against the Chinese government. The lawsuit, considered the first of its kind, said, "Chinese authorities deceived the public, suppressed crucial information, arrested whistleblowers, denied human-to-human transmission in the face of mounting evidence, destroyed critical medical research, permitted millions of people to be exposed to the virus, and even hoarded personal protective equipment—thus causing a global pandemic that was unnecessary and preventable." Due to the Chinese government's sovereign immunity, it will be difficult for the lawsuit to succeed, according to legal experts.
Statistics by county
NOTE: The total number of cases is greater than the sum of all cases currently attributed to specific counties. Per the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services: "Cases by county will be updated as information is verified and patients are notified. The breakdown may not match the total case count above." Thus, discrepancies between the cases by county and total number should be expected.
