Alabama And Missouri Issue Stay-At-Home Orders

Over half of the total positive cases are in the St. Louis region.

As of Friday, Missouri had 2,113 positive cases of the coronavirus and 19 deaths related to the illness, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

As recently as yesterday, when asked about whether or not he would issue a stay-at-home order, the governor said it is challenging because of how diverse the state is.

Parson said Thursday that his social distancing order is sufficient said that his administration continues to reevaluate the situation daily.

"We've taken several aggressive actions to reduce the spread of COVID-19", Ivey wrote in a tweet.

Missouri is asking medical professionals who are not working to join a specialized state team that responds to critical health emergencies.

The state report included 19 deaths, which was unchanged from Thursday.

Individuals now residing within the state of Missouri shall avoid leaving their homes or places of residence.

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On March 23, Parson signed an order mandating social distancing and instructing Missourians to avoid gatherings of more than 10 people.

All public and charter schools must remain closed for the duration of the Order.

Essential businesses open to the public must limit the number of people inside and practice social distancing.

10 percent or less of the entity's authorized fire or building code occupancy, as set by local authorities, for a retail location with square footage of 10,000 square feet or more. Some of the businesses considered essential include grocery stores, pharmacies, gas stations and banks.

"There comes a time when we have to make major sacrifices in our lives".

She added she and state health officials "have tried everything we knew to do to keep from having to take this next step".

The order says local governments can enforce the provisions of the state order "by any legal means", and can go further with local orders if they want to. "Many of us make sacrifices each and every day, but now more than ever, we must all make sacrifices", Parson said in the written statement. "Rural Missouri still has a part to play and needs to do a better job at staying at home and staying off the highways".