KANSAS CITY, Mo. — State officials hope Missouri won’t make national headlines again as another summer holiday weekend approaches.
Images of packed pools in late May during Memorial Day weekend at the Lake of the Ozarks were widely circulated and criticized.
“We really don’t want to duplicate that,” Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services Director Dr. Randall Williams said. “We don’t want to lose ground. We’ve worked so hard to get where we are.”
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson acknowledged the increasing number of total COVID-19 cases in the state during a briefing Thursday from Jefferson City.
He said roughly 60% of those increases statewide are driven primarily by five counties, including Jackson County.
According to Parson, the most recent statewide data on hospitalization rates shows a decline throughout Missouri, except in Kansas City.
“We are still way under hospital capacity,” he said of the growing number of hospitalizations in the Kansas City area.
Jasper and McDonald counties in southwest Missouri, which have reported outbreaks at two large food-processing plants, account for many of the remaining COVID-19 hot spots along with St. Louis County and St. Louis city, Parson said.
Williams encouraged Missourians to wear masks “or even better social distance” in such situations, a sentiment echoed by Parson.
“Be safe, be smart and be responsible,” Parson said. “We want everyone to enjoy the holiday, but we cannot let our guard down.”
Williams said hospitalizations in Kansas City have stabilized “on a week rolling average,” but they are seeing data that suggests younger people infected with COVID-19 are beginning to infect others at an increasing rate in the Kansas City region.
“It’s something I am concerned about,” Williams said. “It’s warm weather. People have been sheltering for a long time. I think especially for people in their 20s and 30s, they want to socialize and congregate.”
