KANSAS CITY (AP) - As the delta variant of COVID-19 makes its way through the Kansas City area, the region's medical leaders appear to be on the verge of calling for new mask mandates.
Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer at the University of Kansas Health System, said that region is seeing a big increase in patients, the Kansas City Star reported.
"We are past the tipping point," Stites said. "We are in trouble."
Missouri is at the epicenter of the summer surge of the coronavirus, a surge driven by the fast-spreading delta variant and low vaccination rates in rural areas.
The spread has made its way to the urban areas, too. St. Louis city and county leaders have not ruled out new measures such as a mask mandate or social distancing requirements, as that region faces increasing cases and hospitalizations.
In the Missouri part of the Kansas City region, information from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services shows that 319 people are hospitalized - nearly triple the number from early April. The number of intensive care unit patients has more than doubled since June, to 84.
Stites said medical leaders from the Kansas City area were in agreement about mandates.
"I think you are going to find the chief medical officers are going to call for a reinstitution of the mask mandates and social distancing because we had that discussion this morning and we were all in favor of it because we're in trouble in the hospitals," Stites said during a briefing.
State data shows 544 people hospitalized and 222 in ICU in southwestern Missouri, numbers that exceed the worst of the winter peak of the virus.