KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The calls to a local pediatrician's office from parents concerned their child may have COVID-19 began increasing around the Fourth of July.
Dr. Natasha Burgert, a pediatrician at Pediatric's Associates, said over the past month she's noticed more young patients being diagnosed with the virus.
Many of them, Burgert said, are involved in sports.
"We know the teenagers are driving some of the boost," Burgert said. "It’s sports practice, it’s swim teams, it’s swim clubs."
Burgert said many kids are also attending parties and hanging out with friends, which is contributing to the spread of the virus.
"When we, as parents, say 'yes' to allowing our kids to hang with friends, we have to assume they are in close contact and they are not masking," Burgert said.
A new study published on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's website from South Korea shows children ages 10 and older are more likely to spread to the virus. The study also shows kids ages 9 and younger are less likely to spread the virus.
But Burgert said there's still a lot more to learn about how the virus spreads.
"Studies about COVID are still in their infancy," Burgert said. "Right now, we’re trying to use every ounce of data we can find to try and make the best decisions for our kids going back into the classrooms."
State leaders in both Kansas and Missouri are considering the possibility of sending kids back to school in the fall.
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson spoke on the issue Monday.
"I think it's important that kids go to school," Parson said. "I think there's a lot of effects besides the virus that you do when children go to school."
Burgert said the rate of infection is still too high for kids in Kansas City to safely return to the classroom.
"It's a math problem," Burgert said. "If our community rates climb, then our kids are more at risk, and if our kids are more at risk so are our families, so are our teachers, our high-risk populations in our community."
When it comes to teenagers contributing to the spread, Burgert said confusion is part of the problem. She said parents will know their child may have been exposed but still allow them to hang out with friends or attend events because their child feels well and may be displaying little if any symptoms.
"If we know they were exposed, they got to stay home," Burgert said. "If we want our kids to get in school and stay in school now's the time we need to make a little bit more of conservative choices like we did in the beginning."
