JEFFERSON CITY â A just-released investigative report on Missouri veterans nursing homes sheds new light on how top government officials first reacted â and didnât react â to information about the spreading danger of COVID-19 at the state-run facilities.
According to the report, released Thursday evening, Michele Renkemeyer, operational excellence leader with the Department of Social Services, said members of the stateâs âFusion Cellâ virus hub were âwell aware of positives and deaths as early as mid-August well into the beginning of September.â
Her statement appears to contradict those made by other top state officials coordinating Missouriâs response to the coronavirus. They told investigators they didnât recognize a problem at the Missouri Veterans Commissionâs seven homes until late September at the earliest.
By JACK SUNTRUP | The St. Louis Post-Dispatch | Published: January 1, 2021
Stars and Stripes is making stories on the coronavirus pandemic available free of charge. See other free reports here. Sign up for our daily coronavirus newsletter here. Please support our journalism with a subscription. JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (Tribune News Service) A just-released investigative report on Missouri veterans nursing homes sheds new light on how top government officials first reacted and didn t react to information about the spreading danger of COVID-19 at the state-run facilities. According to the report, released Thursday evening, Michele Renkemeyer, operational excellence leader with the Department of Social Services, said members of the state s Fusion Cell virus hub were well aware of positives and deaths as early as mid-August well into the beginning of September.