‘Holding their breath.’ COVID cases rise as Branson prepares for big July 4th weekend

From her office inside one of Branson’s popular music theaters, Lena Hughes can see the traffic along the Highway 76 strip.

For much of last year, as the country battled the first wave of the global pandemic, the usually-bustling Branson transformed into a “ghost town,” she said. City leaders closed all but those businesses deemed essential from late March to early May.

Today, the view outside her window is much different.

“Now we get to see bumper to bumper traffic like we used to see,” said Hughes, CEO and general manager of the Hughes Brothers Theatre.

That doesn’t mean that COVID-19 has gone away. In fact, coronavirus cases are rising again in Branson and southwest Missouri, now a national hotspot. Hospitals in the area are seeing an increase in patients, many of them younger. The Hughes theater canceled shows because of the virus.

And as the July 4 holiday approaches, public health officials fear a further increase in new cases, spurred by the prevalence of the delta variant and low vaccination numbers in the region.

“I think we’re just worried in general,” said Lisa Marshall, the health director for Taney County, which includes Branson. “We are just kind of keeping an eye to see what is going to happen. We’ve seen that these numbers can jump pretty quickly. … I think one of our team members put it best the other day when they said that they felt like they were holding their breath.”

On Tuesday, CoxHealth systems had 103 COVID patients in three hospitals in southwest Missouri. In the winter, CoxHealth’s peak was 170.

“We’re just seeing this huge spike all of a sudden,” said Ashley Kimberling Casad, CoxHealth’s vice president of clinical services and assistant incident commander for COVID response. “About a five-fold increase from the last week of May to the last week of June.”

In Taney County alone, 32 percent of the symptomatic testing from CoxHealth labs came back positive for the current week. That’s up from 16 percent during the last week of May.

Much of the rise across southwest Missouri is attributed to the delta variant. In the last round of coronavirus tests CoxHealth sent to the state lab for testing earlier this month, 50 out of 56 were delta, Kimberling Casad said.

Delta is believed to be the most transmissible variant yet, spreading more easily than both the original virus and the alpha variant first detected in Britain. According to estimates by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week, Missouri had the highest rate in the country of cases of the highly contagious COVID-19 delta variant.

What doesn’t help is the low rate of vaccinations across the southwest part of the state. Only 1 in four Taney County residents has been fully vaccinated. In much larger Greene County, which includes Springfield, 1 in 3 residents has been fully vaccinated.

Vaccine rates across southwest Missouri are considerably lower than the roughly 40 percent for the state as a whole.

“I think it’s frustrating at times that we haven’t seen a bigger uptick in vaccinations in this area,” said Kimberling Casad. “We are concerned about what the rest of the summer looks like. ... I think the message is, ‘Our fastest way out of this pandemic is through vaccination.’”

For months, throngs of visitors have flocked to Silver Dollar City, the largest attraction in the Branson area.

“There’s no question that there’s pent-up demand,” said Lisa Rau, park spokeswoman, “and families are really looking for outdoor activities where they can have fun, make memories and feel safe.”

Silver Dollar City, which sits well outside Branson’s city limits, had required face masks for months, until relaxing those rules in April. Now, it requires masks for unvaccinated individuals when indoors, though masks are optional outdoors.

The park is still limiting daily attendance to keep crowds lower than normal, though Rau did not want to discuss specific numbers. She said capacity limits have forced some visitors to wait outside the park on Saturdays until others leave.

Rau said a majority of employees had been vaccinated after management encouraged vaccinations and held vaccination events at the park. Asked about overall tourism demand amid rising caseloads, she said the park has still seen strong demand, particularly among families during the prime summer travel months.

“We are fortunate in that our activities are outdoors,” she said. “We certainly have the restrictions still in place. But we are operating with outdoor activities so it’s different.”

The Taney County health department continues to educate the community on vaccines and where to get them, Marshall said

Older populations have received vaccines at high rates, Marshall said, but that hasn’t been the case with many younger residents. The health department would like to see more front line workers in the tourism town get their shots.

“We’ve been called all sorts of things and we try not to create fear,” Marshall said. “But we do feel like it’s our job to inform the public of where we’re standing.”

If Branson businesses do have employees test positive for the coronavirus, Marshall said she’s confident they do “the right thing.”

“Anybody that is closed in Taney County has done so voluntarily,” she said. “We’ve educated our community the last year and a half on what do you do if your business gets hit by COVID.”

The Hughes Brothers Theatre has signs on the door telling tourists and residents that all shows for the next few days are canceled, Lena Hughes said. At this point, there won’t be any through July 5.

That move came after a member of the family tested positive for COVID. The theater then contacted people who had been at the show the days before the positive test.

“It was a tough decision,” Hughes said of canceling shows. “It’s been a tough year and a half. ... But I think most businesses would do what we’ve done and just close so we keep people safe.”

Craig Wescott, the owner of The Track Family Fun Parks, said Branson is as busy as ever.

“It’s thankfully very busy and it should be a monster weekend for us,” he said.

While some people are tracking news of the variants and local vaccination rates. Wescott suspects many people are simply ready to move beyond the pandemic. Many guests who postponed travel last year are flocking back to Branson for the first time. And others are just now discovering the area, whether they come for golf, lakes or shows.

“We’re trying to push precautions,” he said. “But I think the general public, whether they’re vaccinated or not, feel ready to have some fun and they’re over it, you could say.”

At its three locations, The Track operates go-cart tracks, bumper boats and the Branson ferris wheel.

Wescott, a board member of the Branson/Lakes Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, said most local businesses are recording sales well above 2019 levels.

While indicators like sales tax collections lag behind, Wescott said locals have another less official metric to rely on now.

“You feel it by the back roads you have to take to avoid traffic,” he said. “It is at a peak for sure. The craftier I have to get in taking the back roads as a local, the better it is for town.”