Staying safe during Labor Day Weekend (9-3-20)

Staying safe during Labor Day Weekend (9-3-20)

Ongoing climb in covid cases in buchanan county continues -- and now one of the nation's top public health officials is warning missouri and six other states -- they are teetering on a knife's edge labor day weekend arrives.

Kq2's madeline mcclain with the latest.

<<the battle against covid-19 continues.

As buchanan county sees an uptick in coronavirus cases.

Connie werner, st.

Joseph health dept.: "the community is open.

People are out and about.

There are community events.

School started.

College started.

Sports have started and it's just in the community as a whole.

Buchanan county has added more than 150 cases since last thursday.and four more deaths -- just days apart.all while local hospitalizations -- threaten to unseat peak records set earlier in the pandemic.connie werner, st.

Joseph health dept.: we were able to hire contact tracers whose sole job is to do the contact tracing to do the contacts to do the cases and to do follow ups and so they have just been very busy.

From the time they get there until the time leave they are making phone calls."oh and a little thing called labor day.

Connie werner, st.

Joseph health dept.: any social gathering where there's not social distancing where there's not masks.

We've just shown that it causes an increase in cases."the troubling trend is happening all across missouri.prompting one of the u.s.'s top infectious disease experts to warn missourians and residents of six other states to be careful this holiday weekend.

Dr. anthony fauci: "we don't want to see a repeat of the surges that we have seen following of the holiday weekends.

We don't want to see a surge on the, any circumstances, but particularly as we go on the other side of labor day and enter into the fall, we want to go into that with a running start in the right direction.

We don't want to go into that with another surge that we have to turn around again."

Adding that if we are careless -- a surge of cases will follow.and that threatens schools and business wishing to stay open.dr. anthony fauci / director, national institute of allergy and infectious diseases: what i would really like to see kind of a full court press to get us way down as a baseline.

So that when you get these cases in the fall, they won't surge up.

Local public health experts are also urging caution.asking us to do what we can to protect our community werner, st.

Joseph health dept.: it's the same that it has been it's just not what anyone wants to hear.

So i want everyone to see their family but we still have covid in the community so my advice hasn't changed.

My guidance hasn't changed.

It's that six foot distance.

It's that not being around someone closer than six feet for more than 15 minutes.wash our hands, social distance, avoid gatherings, and wear a mask.reporting in st.

Joseph, madeline mcclain kq2 because of the natural lag in reporting and the incubation period for the virus ... public health experts say it will be weeks before we see the effects -- if any-- from this weekend.