What to know about COVID-19 news in Kansas City, Missouri and the metro

As Missouri grapples with the latest surge of COVID-19, public health and safety have again come to the forefront as leaders promote possible solutions.

At the heart of the conversation is how to properly handle another outbreak, driven by the delta variant, in a part of the country where vaccination rates are lagging and hospitals are filling. Local leaders across the state have largely been left to make decisions regarding mandatory guidelines, similar to when the pandemic began.

Regionally speaking, local governments have yet to step in with mandates that were unpopular in many circles such as enforced mask and social-distancing requirements. St. Louis is the largest major metropolitan area to take such a step since the latest variant of the virus started tearing through the state.

Still, health-care experts and elected officials across the region are urging people to take precautions — especially by receiving a full dose of the vaccine. Here is some of the latest news on the situation locally and across the state:

MASKS IN KC?

Mayor Quinton Lucas has yet to give any indication that he is seeking to place new mask mandates on Kansas Citians.

Instead, the mayor on Friday repeated the city’s guidance for wearing masks in large indoor settings or when in close proximity to an unvaccinated person. And he begged for Kansas Citians to get vaccinated.

“Kansas City, please — please — take the vaccine if you have not yet,” Lucas said in a statement.

Kansas City has been without a mask mandate since May, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention amended its guidance to say those who have become fully inoculated no longer had to wear masks in public spaces.

Meantime, no other local government leaders have seriously signaled a return to masks.

HOSPITAL CASES RISE

Area hospitals are reporting a higher number of patients infected with COVID-19. St. Luke’s Health System said Friday its number has doubled compared to one month ago.

Currently, there are 82 COVID patients hospitalized across the 16 entities within the hospital’s health system. That number is up from the mid-30s this time in June, and this week’s numbers are the highest they have seen since mid-February, said Lindsey Stich, hospital spokeswoman.

Other hospitals in the Kansas City area also have seen more patients in recent weeks and some have turned down transfers of COVID patients from other locations.

ST. LOUIS ISSUES MANDATE

The city and county of St. Louis will require nearly all residents to wear face coverings in public spaces as health officials there cite the dangers of the delta VARIANT to the region’s most vulnerable residents.

City and county health leaders announced the change Friday. The move resembled a return to the early days of the pandemic lifestyle after residents there shed masks in May.

It also marks the largest metropolitan center in the state to make such a move amid growing fears from health experts.

Dr. Faisal Khan, the county’s acting public health director, said the city’s latest mask order is necessary to protect its most vulnerable residents and the young children ineligible to receive the vaccine.

Under a new state law, elected governing bodies now have wider authority to override decisions made by public health officials. The law says elected officials may vote to rescind orders affecting commerce or restricting public access within 30 days of being issued.

‘MASK UP’

Even if local governments in the Kansas City metro have yet or ultimately choose not to issue new requirements for mask-wearing and social distancing, top local health experts are urging residents to start doing that anyway.

The topic came up during the University of Kansas Health System’s daily COVID-19 briefing Friday. Dr. Steve Stites, the system’s chief medical officer, repeated a call for area residents to take those precautions while borrowing a phrase from “Star Trek.”

“When trouble comes, shields up,” Stites said. “When trouble comes, mask up. And right now trouble’s here with the delta virus.”

On Friday, the hospital had 56 COVID patients, down from 60 on Thursday. A dozen patients are in the ICU and seven are on ventilators.

QUESTIONS? ASK US

Got questions about what’s happening with COVID-19? The Star is encouraging readers to send them to us for answers.

The Star wants Kansas Citians to get the information needed to live safe, healthy lives. When the pandemic first hit the area last spring, we answered your questions about masks, stay-at-home orders, stimulus checks and more.

Ask us your most pressing questions about the variant, how to stay safe or what you don’t understand by clicking here, or email The Star editor Savanna Smith at sasmith@kcstar.com.