COVID-19 Numbers Surge
July 7
Sheila Harris
Barry County Health Department administrator, Roger Brock, says COVID-19 case numbers are definitely on the increase in southwest Missouri, with the accompanying protocol of contact-tracing keeping his staff busy.
In Barry County, 44 new cases were reported between June 22 and June 30; Lawrence County added 76; Stone County, 73; McDonald County 107; and Newton County 111.
At Mercy Springfield, Chief Administrative Officer, Erik Frederick, tweeted that the hospital’s increase in admissions (115 on July 5) was more than was seen last winter for a similar time period. Ventilators were in short supply and were being requisitioned from other area hospitals, he said.
CoxHealth is seeing a similar increase in admitted COVID-19 patients, according to CoxHealth VP of clinical services, Ashley Kimberling Casad - as reported by KY3.
“We’ve seen around 95 - 100 patients for about two weeks, after being at 35 on June 5,” she said.
According to a widely-publicized post by CoxHealth, a man in his forties died of COVID after expressing regret that he had not taken the vaccine.
In a tweet, CoxHealth CEO Steve Edwards said they are now seeing admissions of pediatric patients into their hospitals, between the ages of a few months and 18 years.
According to Kimberling, 50 out of 56 COVID samples that CoxHealth recently sent to the state were the Delta variant, which is targeting younger age groups, is causing more intense symptoms and is more contagious than what was seen previously.
Health officials are linking the low vaccination rate in southwest Missouri to the prevalence of the virus in the area.
“Barry County has about a 31 percent vaccination rate,” said Roger Brock.
That number is below the national average vaccination rate of 47.6 percent as of July 4, according to a Mayo Clinic vaccination tracker.
Sheila Harris
Barry County Health Department administrator, Roger Brock, says COVID-19 case numbers are definitely on the increase in southwest Missouri, with the accompanying protocol of contact-tracing keeping his staff busy.
In Barry County, 44 new cases were reported between June 22 and June 30; Lawrence County added 76; Stone County, 73; McDonald County 107; and Newton County 111.
At Mercy Springfield, Chief Administrative Officer, Erik Frederick, tweeted that the hospital’s increase in admissions (115 on July 5) was more than was seen last winter for a similar time period. Ventilators were in short supply and were being requisitioned from other area hospitals, he said.
CoxHealth is seeing a similar increase in admitted COVID-19 patients, according to CoxHealth VP of clinical services, Ashley Kimberling Casad - as reported by KY3.
“We’ve seen around 95 - 100 patients for about two weeks, after being at 35 on June 5,” she said.
According to a widely-publicized post by CoxHealth, a man in his forties died of COVID after expressing regret that he had not taken the vaccine.
In a tweet, CoxHealth CEO Steve Edwards said they are now seeing admissions of pediatric patients into their hospitals, between the ages of a few months and 18 years.
According to Kimberling, 50 out of 56 COVID samples that CoxHealth recently sent to the state were the Delta variant, which is targeting younger age groups, is causing more intense symptoms and is more contagious than what was seen previously.
Health officials are linking the low vaccination rate in southwest Missouri to the prevalence of the virus in the area.
“Barry County has about a 31 percent vaccination rate,” said Roger Brock.
That number is below the national average vaccination rate of 47.6 percent as of July 4, according to a Mayo Clinic vaccination tracker.
