‘We’re in trouble, Kansas City.’ Masks are coming back, public health officials say
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Missouri COVID-19 delta variant surge
Missouri is experiencing a rise in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations due in part to the spread of the delta variant. Read our latest coverage.
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Update: On Friday afternoon, 10 Kansas City-area health agencies released written recommendations urging members of the public who are not fully vaccinated to to wear masks to help slow the spread of COVID-19. That story is posted here.
Kansas City public health leaders will ask members of the public who are not fully vaccinated to wear masks while visiting indoor public places and crowded outdoor settings.
The precautions are necessary, officials said, because of the rising numbers of COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations around the region.
Michelle Pekarsky, spokeswoman for the Kansas City Health Department, on Friday said a recommendation is forthcoming from area public health officials but it will not be a mandate or a new order. Officials are reminding people to wear masks in public and practice social distancing.
Low vaccination rates in parts of the Kansas City region and across Kansas and Missouri have contributed to an accelerated spread of the delta variant of the virus, which is more easily transmitted and is more dangerous.
Pekarsky noted that some parts of Kansas City have a less than 40% vaccination rate.
During the first half of July, there have been over 800 new confirmed COVID-19 cases reported in Kansas City. Health officials say that is more than the number of new cases reported for the entire month of June.
The University of Kansas Health System on Thursday had 37 patients being treated for the virus, up from 29 on Wednesday. Nine patients were in the intensive care unit with four on ventilators.
“They are seeing case counts rise and they are putting in a reminder that it’s best to wear a mask as the delta variant is taking hold and going around Springfield,” Pekarsky said. “It is coming this way.”
“It’s a message that we never let go of,” she said. “So this is not new.”
On Thursday, the Kansas City Council approved a resolution requiring the health department to be more aggressive addressing the Delta variant.
“The mask mandate went away but we continued to say people not vaccinated need to wear a mask when they’re out. People who are vaccinated and don’t know the status of others around them need to wear a mask,” Pekarsky said.
The rising number of cases and hospitalizations has doctors at The University of Kansas Health System worried.
“We’re in trouble, Kansas City,” chief medical officer Steve Stites said.
The metro, which includes Kansas City and Jackson, Clay and Platte counties in Missouri and Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas, added 300 new cases on Friday. In the past seven days, the area has added 1,831 cases.
“We’re going to come to a reckoning again at some point,” Stites said. “The reckoning is going to be for those who are unvaccinated, are we all going to have to put masks back on? I think that’s the question we’re going to be faced with and I think that question’s going to come up on us in the next one to two weeks.”
A back-to-school vaccination and COVID clinic will be held 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Smith Hale Middle School, 9010-A Old Santa Fe Road in south Kansas City. No appointment is required.
This story was originally published July 16, 2021 at 3:05 PM.
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