KCUR: Kansas City Health Officials Worry Lake of the Ozarks Crowds Are A ‘Recipe For Transmission’
Dr. Sarah Boyd had a sinking feeling when she saw the videos of Memorial Day weekend revelers packed into pools and bars at Lake of the Ozarks.
“I thought ‘Oh, no,’” said Boyd, an infectious disease physician at Saint Luke’s Health System in Kansas City. “It’s understandable that it’s a holiday weekend but it seemed to be being treated like COVID-19 wasn’t going on.”
Kansas City health experts like Boyd are concerned the large gatherings at the Lake of the Ozarks over the Memorial Day weekend could lead to an increase in coronavirus cases in the metro.
It will take a couple of weeks to know if the crowds witnessed at Lake of the Ozarks will lead to a broader surge in cases, according to Boyd. She said large group gatherings like the ones seen this past weekend are risky because someone may have the virus and not know.
“People either may already be infected but not be having symptoms for even a couple of days before symptoms appear as well as people who kind of have mild symptoms and think, ‘maybe that’s just my allergies,’” Boyd said.
“If those people are in those larger groups, the closer contact and the longer time you have contact with those infectious people, the higher risk you might contract it as well,” she said.
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