ST. LOUIS (KMOX)-The St. Louis area seems to be in a holding pattern now in coronavirus cases. Dr. Clay Dunagan of BJC Health tells KMOX there has been a slight increase in St. Louis and the other major population areas in terms of corona virus cases. "Some of it's due to the reopening of the economy, of course there was the Memorial Weekend where we had a lot of robust celebrations that might have been a little ill-advised, and then we've had the protests over the last couple of weeks."
Dunagan says he is pleased to see that most of those taking part in the protests, are wearing masks. He estimates about 90 percent of those at the gatherings are taking the precaution. "Sure, we would like to see that extra ten percent, but I think every bit helps. I also think the fact the protests are outside, which is really inherently less risky than people gathering indoors, is a plus."
Overall, Dunagan says we were very lucky local officials took the bull by the horns and shut things down to avoid viral transmission. He says if we make it to the end of the month without a major spike in cases... we should be in good shape. "I think that would be evidence that the warm, humid weather, all the social distancing, the various things we put in place and the way people are approaching the reopening, would be working."
