KANSAS CITY, Mo. — As Memorial Day approaches, more places and activities are opening up. For last year's holiday weekend, a majority of places were closed due to COVID-19.
"We were devastated, but it's a year later. We're excited," said Jerry Baber, COO of Union Station.
More things will be open at Union Station this year than last, one of many differences doctors see between the time periods.
"I think we have drastic differences from 2020 Memorial Day to 2021 Memorial Day — most notably the CDC guidance, especially for vaccinated people," said Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention at the University of Kansas Health System.
The vaccine is bringing back times of celebrating with people outside of your bubble, and have more options for what to do with more places open.
"We have just moved back to, we are open seven days a week, normal business hours, 10 to 6. We do have extra cleaning in place. We do have deep cleaning that happens every evening," Baber said.
Union Station's Science City will have all of their activities open and ready for kids this Saturday. Sky Bike, shut down due to COVID-19, is the latest attraction to open.
"Being able to cater to all ages of the family and let mom and dad and grandma and grandpa engage with them again, a lot of those have been distanced relationships and they can get back together and start having fun again," Baber said.
They are also opening the Extreme Screen this Friday.
"Cruela is the first run movie we have done in a year," Baber said.
Hawkinson said people need to be aware of strangers that they are around.
"If you do go out in public and you are around a lot of people, it's also probably safe to assume that there are people in that area that are unvaccinated," Hawkinson said.
The hope is that people who want to enjoy spending time with family and friends and don't want to get sick will get vaccinated.
"Get vaccianted if you aren't. Encourage anybody who is outside your bubble to get vaccinated. It will help them. It will help us as a community," Hawkinson said.
