KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It's been eight months since KCMO Mayor Quinton Lucas put the first Coronavirus orders in place, and while the number of new cases slowed down at times, the pace of increasing cases is now at a pandemic high.
In March, Lucas and other leaders across the metro took their first steps in controlling the spread of COVID-19.
According to the latest data from the 41 Action News COVID-19 tracker, Kansas City, Missouri's total number of cases now exceeds 19,000 - a figure that could prompt an additional round of restrictions.
“Numbers have definitely been increasing over the last several weeks, I feel like every few day we get a new high that we’ve reached of how many new cases there are," Dr. Sarah Boyd, Infectious Disease Physician at Saint Luke's Health System, said.
Since March, Lucas and others have adopted their guidance depending on the state of increases of the virus.
As cases continue to rise by the day, 41 Action News confirmed with the mayor's office that a press conference will be held on Monday to announce additional public health guidance.
In a Kansas City Star article, Lucas wrote the guidance would be "informed and backed by science."
Lucas wrote in the article about his worries for the city as hospitals are full and urging people to not go home for Thanksgiving.
Lucas did not specify an exact time of when the press conference will be held.
“Start really now, planning and rethinking about Thanksgiving time, this is not the time to have large family gathering and think of ways, maybe the big gatherings should be next year," Dr. Lee Norman, Secretary of Kansas Department of Health and Environment, said.
