Across the country, COVID numbers are on the rise. Hospitalizations are higher than they were a few months ago, though the numbers aren't as severe as during pandemic peaks.
Dr. Marvia Jones, director of the Kansas City Health Department, says that an increase could be linked to a new variant and more travel during the summer.
But Dr. Mark Steele, chief medical and operating officer at University Health, doesn't think the uptick is cause for concern right now in Kansas City. He said that while U.S. is seeing about 9,000 new cases a week right now, that number was 45,000 a week at this time last year.
"COVID has always been hard to predict, and we'll keep an eye on it and see what happens over the ensuing weeks," Steele said. "But so far, it's a pretty mild uptick that we're seeing."
- Dr. Marvia Jones, Director of the Kansas City Health Department
- Dr. Mark Steele, Chief Medical and Operating Officer at University Health
