KC’s new COVID restrictions are welcome, but they won’t be enough. You’re on your own
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas announced much-needed new restrictions Monday to limit the rapidly intensifying spread of the coronavirus.
“We have reached … our greatest crisis moment in Kansas City’s response to COVID-19,” Lucas said.
As of Friday, indoor gatherings, including concerts, weddings, trade shows and the like will be limited to 10 people or fewer unless an approved mitigation plan is in place. Bars, restaurants and event spaces will be required to close at 10:00 p.m.
Almost all Kansas Citians, including public safety workers, must wear masks while working or in public places. Patrons of fitness centers and gyms, including school gyms, must be masked, and capacity is limited to 50%.
Officials in Jackson and Wyandotte Counties issued their own restrictions Monday. Johnson County approved tepid regulations last week.
All of these steps are welcome and necessary. Enforcement will be essential.
But they will not be enough.
As Kansas City contends with uncontrolled community spread of COVID-19, residents must now do whatever they can to protect themselves, regardless of what the government decides to do, or not do.
It didn’t have to be this way. There was a time when government restrictions alone held the promise of reducing transmission of the coronavirus. Last spring, state and local governments shut down schools and workplaces, limited indoor activities and imposed mask orders and distancing requirements.
Those steps worked, for the most part. While COVID-19 deaths were unacceptably high, particularly in nursing homes, jails and food processing plans, transmission of the disease slowed to manageable levels. The curve was bent.
But a summer of complacency and COVID-19 fatigue has yielded a disastrous fall. Cases are growing exponentially, putting enormous pressure on hospitals and care providers, who are themselves sick and exhausted.
On July 4, Missouri averaged 450 COVID-19 cases a day over a seven-day period. On Saturday, the daily average was 4,949 cases — more than a 10-fold increase. To date, more than 3,400 Missourians have died from COVID.
These outcomes will shame Gov. Mike Parson and the state’s Republican leadership for years. They turned reasonable COVID-19 restrictions into political weapons, winning at the polls while laying the groundwork for a coronavirus explosion.
Now, the virus is ravaging rural areas, which are now trying to send sick patients to overcrowded, under-manned urban facilities for treatment. Hospitals are begging the governor to require masks in the state, a step he has stubbornly refused to consider.
The state Senate has postponed its session because too many members and staff are sick with COVID-19.
But here’s the thing: Parson’s indifference to suffering need not be the final word. It’s now clear that waiting for the governor, or the mayor or any public official to guide us through the coronavirus pandemic will only lead to more sorrow and sickness.
The alternative? Think globally, act personally. Stay away from others if you can. Increasingly, experts say, the virus is spreading through small family interactions as well as larger super-spreader events. A remote Thanksgiving holiday is safer than an in-person celebration.
Avoid restaurants and bars, as well as any indoor events. Lengthy trips to the store are suspect. If you must send your children to an in-person classroom, cleanliness and close observation will be critical. Watch the Chiefs on television.
Masks are essential. Hygiene is important. Maintain your distance. Do everything in your power to avoid catching or transmitting a communicable disease until a safe vaccine arrives, which could be early next year.
Some of our neighbors will ignore this advice. They will get sick, and they will make others sick. Hospitals will struggle to meet the demand. That is tragic, but it’s now a certainty. It’s happening across Missouri and Kansas already. The worst is still ahead.
Quinton Lucas and other leaders can’t give up. Restrictions and curfews are critical, and the rules may need to be tightened yet again. Lucas said Monday that additional steps are possible in the days ahead.
But we can’t wait for that to happen. COVID-19 is on the doorstep. Act now to protect yourself, and your family, before it gets inside.