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Missouri Gov. Mike Parson activated the Missouri National Guard on Friday to assist in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Parson and the National Guard's leader asserted that the Guard is not coming to impose itself upon Missourians.
"This is not about putting Missouri under martial law," Parson said. "This is a planning stage operation to provide more assistance to Missourians and increase our capacity to deploy resources quickly."
"Let me also assure you that we are not some outside organization coming in to impose someone else's agenda on you," the Guard's Adjutant Gen. Levon Cumpton said. "We are you," he added of National Guard soldiers being Missourians' family members and neighbors.
He said the National Guard could be involved in a variety of missions related to the pandemic.
"Missions might include helping to set up community-based testing sites, operation of those sites, providing intrastate transportation of personnel and equipment for medical or testing support and logistical support to local and state authorities as needed," Cumpton said.
"In fact, I'm sure there are needs that will come out of this pandemic that we aren't even aware of yet, but rest assured, your Missouri National Guard will do whatever we can to help," Cumpton added.
As of Friday afternoon, there were 670 reported cases of COVID-19 in Missouri, according to the state's Department of Health and Senior Services - up more than 266 percent since Monday, with average day-to-day increases during the week having been approximately 38 percent.
The department reported nine deaths in the state from the disease.
DHSS Director Dr. Randall Williams said between 1,000-1,500 people are being tested in Missouri each day - with about 7,000 people tested in total - with the rate of positive cases "looking more like 10 percent now," when it had been 6-8 percent.
Williams said he expects to see about 120 more positive cases each day.
"We think we're getting to a place where we're seeing what we need to know," he added - there's community transmission of the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, that could spread to particularly vulnerable groups such as seniors in nursing homes, and that all underscores the importance of social distancing.
Cumpton said the National Guard has been aggressive about preventing spread among its own forces - following federal health guidelines and by screening all service members entering armories and training sites.
In addition to activation of the National Guard, Parson said MO HealthNet Director Todd Richardson has been tasked with coordinating efforts to increase capacity within the state's health care system - such as hospital bed space, overflow locations and isolation sites for health care workers.
"We've been engaging in regular and systematic communication with our health care partners to assess their capacity, their staffing needs and their need for supplies," Richardson said.
In addition to efforts to streamline licensing for health care providers and distribute personal protective equipment, he said, Department of Economic Development Director Rob Dixon has been working to "identify housing support that can be deployed for affected health care workers."
Williams noted the state owns 123 ventilators and has ordered 220 more.
This article was updated at 4:15 p.m. March 27, 2020, with new information.