(KNSS) Wichita Mayor Brandon Whipple spoke to KNSS about COVID-19, activities that risk spreading the virus, the importance of masks ... and why the numbers have been rising.
"There was a time when our numbers were just way down and it was good," Whipple said. "And then I think people let their guards down. By the time our numbers started to tick back up, I think folks were just starting to learn about masks and the importance of them. In the last two weeks, we've seen an uptick in hospitalizations, which is what I look at. Hospitalizations are the better variable to look at rather than just overall testing because it means not only were these people tested, but they needed hospital stays."
Two weeks ago, Wichita was at 54 hospitalizations and then rose to 58. New numbers are due soon.
"Hopefully, it's leveling off. We should start to se some good news with the masks, but we've got to just follow the numbers and see where we're at," Whipple said.
He added Wichita has community spread, which means cases can't be tied to a single, isolated event. It also means to stay safe people need to be cognitive of the places where they're more likely to catch this.
"It's really based on what's safe and that's really what we need to be looking at, the activities."
Masks greatly decrease transmission of the virus, he added.
"It's our No. 1 weapon against this thing."
