Hair stylist worked eight days with COVID-19 symptoms in Missouri
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A Springfield hairstylist served 84 clients over eight days while experiencing symptoms of coronavirus, health officials say.
Clay Goddard, director of the Springfield-Greene County Health Department, said in a news briefing Friday that the stylist worked eight days between May 12 and Wednesday, with only the Sunday off, at a Great Clips. All of the stylist’s clients wore masks and will be tested, as will the stylist’s coworkers, the Springfield News-Leader reports.
The announcement came just days after city officials announced plans to relax even more distancing requirements and about a week after the health department started seeing an influx of new travel-related infections.
Goddard said health officials still had enough capacity to pinpoint the origin of infections and potential spread, although that could change.
“We can’t make this a regular habit or our capability as a community will be strained and we will have to re-evaluate what things look like going forward,” he said.
The state health department on Friday reported 218 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus, bringing the total to 11,558 since the pandemic began. That was the largest one-day total since 319 cases were reported on May 1. Ten new deaths brought that total to 671.