St. Louis County doubles down on virus protocol

Missouri’s most populous county is limiting crowd sizes, ordering bars to close early and getting tough on businesses as the number of coronavirus cases soars, complicating the start of the school year.

St. Louis County Executive Dr. Sam Page said Monday that the new restrictions would take effect at 5 p.m. Friday.

The announcement came one day after the county reported 523 new positive cases for its largest single-day increase.

St. Louis County’s total number of cases since the pandemic began now stands at 11,210, more than a quarter of the state’s total of 41,927. .