Some local residents gathered at 6 p.m. Wednesday night (April 15) to pray outside the Festus Manor Care Center, 627 Westwood South Drive, where there has been an outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus.
As of Wednesday, 16 residents had tested positive for the virus, and one resident had died, the Jefferson County Health Department reported.
Health Department Director Kelley Vollmar said the prayer gathering at Festus Manor was a violation of the stay-at-home order the county issued March 23 and remains in effect until further notice.
“I know there are good intentions involved, but it's just one misstep and you can end up with a much larger outbreak than you currently have,” she said.
According to the Facebook event created for the gathering, the event was hosted by Tammy Dickey and Chad Kent Smith.
Smith did not return a Facebook message for a comment about the event.
The prayer gathering also was streamed on Facebook Live, and the video shows many cars parked outside the center.
“I had personally spoken with Tammy Dickey (the morning of April 15), and reached out to the administration and the owners of the facility and asked them to not encourage people to (attend the event) and to try to do a virtual event,” Vollmar said.
She also said the Health Department offered to have the agency’s communication specialist Brianne Zwiener help the prayer vigil organizers hold a virtual event on Facebook, with no public gathering.
“I'm totally supportive of a prayer vigil,” she said. “I think they need the prayers and deserve the prayers, and the staff who have been working tirelessly deserve them, but on the flip side of that, is we are currently dealing with an outbreak at that facility and we are trying to ensure that we keep everyone safe.”
Vollmar said Smith posted a Facebook Live video before the event saying the Health Department had asked him to encourage people not to come to the gathering. He can be seen in the video telling people not to come, but also winking at the same time.
Vollmar said it can be frustrating trying to educate the public about staying home.
“To have somebody so blatantly mock a request that you have made, was disheartening,” she said.
Vollmar said there are law enforcement steps that can be taken to enforce the stay-at-home order.
She said the first step is a cease and desist request from the county counselor and the next step would be to seek charges.
“That is a class A misdemeanor to violate a stay-at-home order,” Vollmar said.
She said the Health Department might seek that option if public gatherings continue, but at this time, she plans to have a “serious conversation” with the prayer gathering organizers.
As of Wednesday, the county had 144 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, including the 16 at Festus Manor, and the death at the nursing home is among the county’s three coronavirus-related deaths.
The outbreak at Festus Manor was first reported as six cases on Sunday (April 12).
Vollmar said Wednesday that 45 more residents and staff members from the nursing home had been tested for the coronavirus, and those results were pending.
