HERMANN — A set of guidelines for the reopening of businesses in Gasconade County is being drafted this week by county health officials local government leaders and business people anticipate the lifting of the statewide stay-at-home order Monday morning.

But the change isn’t expected to be a return to business as usual as it was before the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic. Indeed, Gasconade County Health Department Administrator Greg Lara Monday morning told the agency’s Board of Trustees he will be crafting guidelines for merchants as they continue to follow in-place steps such as social distancing, limited crowd size and the use of masks.

Lara said he is awaiting further information from Missouri health officials before issuing guidelines for Gasconade County.

“I’m going to try and match it up with whatever the state puts out,” Lara said to the trustees, who were attending the regular monthly meeting from their homes via a Web-Ex hookup. Lara, Administrative Assistant  Darla Schutt, Environmental Specialist Molly Maddox and Public Health Nurse Kelly Thompson were taking part from the Health Department’s Hermann office’s second-floor meeting room — a larger room that allowed the staffers social-distancing space.

The administrator said as he crafts a matrix of guidelines for the county, he will be using guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA), as well as the steps being taken by other states that are beginning to reopen their economies.

One of the businesses that might be significantly affected by the guidelines could be restaurants, which have been limited to take-out and delivery orders in recent weeks. As they begin to reopen their doors, they will have to take steps to ensure the six-foot social distancing measure and the crowd-size limit.

“We’ve  been getting a lot of questions on that,” Lara told the trustees.

All four sitting trustees — President Sharen Speckhals, Vice President Stan Hall and members Glen Duncan and Mary Leeper — attended the session, along with prospective member Susan Steinbeck of Owensville. Steinbeck has yet to formally accept an appointment to the board; she attended the meeting as a way to observe its workings. The fifth member’s seat became vacant late last year with the resignation of Pat Smith of Mt. Sterling.

Meanwhile, Lara said the agency staff — which until recently was operating shorthanded with two nursing positions vacant — has been limited to coronavirus-related matters. For instance, he noted that inspections of food-service establishments by Maddox largely had been put on hold by state health officials as public health agencies deal with the virus.

“We haven’t done any inspections since this started,” Lara said.

Joining the department staff recently was nurse Hannah Toelke of Owensville. She has been receiving training lately and will soon be able to bring the staff closer to full strength.

Thompson has spent much of her time in recent weeks doing initial and follow-up work with the many contacts of the two county residents who tested positive for the coronavirus. Both of those people have since recovered from their illness. Thompson explained to the trustees how detailed her efforts have been to reach those people who were in contact with the infected residents, asking and answering many questions and explaining the need for those people to self-quarantine for 14 days.

“It takes up a little bit of time,” Thompson said.

Still, the department’s staff has been able to do some routine health-agency work. “We’ve been doing a few shots here and there,” Thompson said.

Also, the WIC Program has been continuing, but in a less personal manner. Lara said WIC clients have been services mainly through telephone calls. “We can’t do face-to-face,” he said.

Lara noted that the start of e-WIC — the use of a debit card rather than paper vouchers — has been delayed.

“The e-WIC has been pushed off until the middle of July. It had been put off until the middle of June, but with everything going on, they pushed it to the middle of July,” he said.

The coronavirus pandemic notwithstanding, as the calendar moves toward summer, the health department also needs to direct some of its attention to the usual matters at hand, Lara said. “We’re getting close to rabies season,” he said.

And, of course, warmer weather means tick season.

In addition, the county health agency is helping promote safe driving. Thompson said that with grant money the agency has obtained signs that say “Buckle Up, Phone Down” as well as other promotion items with the message. Original plans for distributing the promotion items were changed because of the virus so now the agency will be assembling take-home bags for all seniors in the Gasconade County R-1 and R-2 school districts, Thompson said.

As for the eight signs, Speckhals suggested some of them be placed at the elementary schools, as well at St. George Catholic School in Hermann.

Thompson said the agency also was able to purchase five child car seats with grant money. Those seats will be made available to those in need, she said.

Lara agreed with Hall’s suggestion that department staff update the agency’s website daily with coronavirus numbers. Hall’s suggestion was prompted by seeing the numbers displayed on the Gasconade County Sheriff’s Department’s Facebook page. The board vice president said he was asked by an acquaintance why the sheriff’s agency and not the health agency was posting the numbers daily.

Hall said he thinks having the Health Department put up those numbers will help in convincing how serious the matter is and the need to continue to practice safety protocols. “I’m concerned people become complacent,” Hall said. “Just emphasize social distancing,” he added.

The session was concluded with Lara explaining that for the time being the Health Department office in Hermann will keep operating with its doors locked, even as steps are taken to open up businesses.

“For the time being, I think we’ll keep it the way it is,” the administrator said, adding that residents can call and make arrangements for services.

Schutt told the board that no services have been denied during the locked-door period — even for those in Owensville, where the health agency office has been closed in recent weeks.