COVID-19 Updates
July 28 COVID updates from Mercy, Cox and Roark Family Health
July 28, 2021
Sheila Harris
CoxHealth spokesperson Kaitlyn McConnell reported 161 COVID inpatients in the CoxHealth system Wednesday morning.
Cox has had 76 patients die with COVID so far in July.
McConnell said mobile morgue equipment was brought in over the weekend to have on hand in case it is needed.
Wednesday morning the Mercy Hospital systems reported 136 COVID inpatients in Mercy Springfield, three in Aurora, two in Cassville, nine in Lebabon and two in Mountain View.
Spokesperson Sonya Kullman reported that Mercy has had three additional COVID-related deaths in the last 24 hours, which brings the total number of deaths to 18 since Friday at Mercy.
Mercy President and COO Brent Hubbard said the ages of those who die is becoming younger.
“Of four recent deaths, two people were in their 30s and two were in their 40s,” he told KOLR 10 news.
Kullman reports the following age ranges for hospitalizations at Mercy: one child in the 0-10 age range, four in the 21-30 range, and eight in the 31-40 range.
Ninety-three percent of the people hospitalized are unvaccinated, Kullman says.
Dr. Lisa Roark, of Roark Family Health in Cassville, is advising residents to stay home.
“If you absolutely have to go out,” she said, “wear a mask, even if you’re vaccinated. We are having breakthrough cases (vaccinated patients) which leads to exposure of unvaccinated patients. Delta is very, very contagious.”
Roark said her staff has been testing multiple COVID-positive patients since Monday, and the office phone has been ringing off the hook with calls from worried and sick residents.
“Monday, I held one of my favorite patient’s hands and discussed his wishes should he stop breathing from Covid pneumonia,” she said.
Health Department COVID-19 Update
July 28, 2021
Sheila Harris
The Barry County Health Department’s July 22 update reported 127 new cases of COVID-19 in the county within the prevous six-day period. Ten of the patients were hospitalized The deaths of two males over the age of 60 with COVID-related complications were also reported for that period.
A July 28 update reports 85 new cases of COVID, with a positivity rate of 21.7 percent for the past week. No additional deaths were noted.
Surrounding counties have all seen a large uptick in COVID numbers, with all counties except McDonald reporting additional deaths.
Low vaccination rates, compared to the state and national average, are prevalent in counties where case numbers have surged. The percentage of U.S. residents vaccinated lies at 49.5 percent, and Missouri reports a percentage of 46.5 percent.
In southwest Missouri, health department statistics show a vaccination rate of 34.6 percent for Barry County residents, 29.8 percent for Lawrence County, 31.7 percent for Stone County, 22 percent for Newton County and 18.7 percent for McDonald County.
July 28, 2021
Sheila Harris
CoxHealth spokesperson Kaitlyn McConnell reported 161 COVID inpatients in the CoxHealth system Wednesday morning.
Cox has had 76 patients die with COVID so far in July.
McConnell said mobile morgue equipment was brought in over the weekend to have on hand in case it is needed.
Wednesday morning the Mercy Hospital systems reported 136 COVID inpatients in Mercy Springfield, three in Aurora, two in Cassville, nine in Lebabon and two in Mountain View.
Spokesperson Sonya Kullman reported that Mercy has had three additional COVID-related deaths in the last 24 hours, which brings the total number of deaths to 18 since Friday at Mercy.
Mercy President and COO Brent Hubbard said the ages of those who die is becoming younger.
“Of four recent deaths, two people were in their 30s and two were in their 40s,” he told KOLR 10 news.
Kullman reports the following age ranges for hospitalizations at Mercy: one child in the 0-10 age range, four in the 21-30 range, and eight in the 31-40 range.
Ninety-three percent of the people hospitalized are unvaccinated, Kullman says.
Dr. Lisa Roark, of Roark Family Health in Cassville, is advising residents to stay home.
“If you absolutely have to go out,” she said, “wear a mask, even if you’re vaccinated. We are having breakthrough cases (vaccinated patients) which leads to exposure of unvaccinated patients. Delta is very, very contagious.”
Roark said her staff has been testing multiple COVID-positive patients since Monday, and the office phone has been ringing off the hook with calls from worried and sick residents.
“Monday, I held one of my favorite patient’s hands and discussed his wishes should he stop breathing from Covid pneumonia,” she said.
Health Department COVID-19 Update
July 28, 2021
Sheila Harris
The Barry County Health Department’s July 22 update reported 127 new cases of COVID-19 in the county within the prevous six-day period. Ten of the patients were hospitalized The deaths of two males over the age of 60 with COVID-related complications were also reported for that period.
A July 28 update reports 85 new cases of COVID, with a positivity rate of 21.7 percent for the past week. No additional deaths were noted.
Surrounding counties have all seen a large uptick in COVID numbers, with all counties except McDonald reporting additional deaths.
Low vaccination rates, compared to the state and national average, are prevalent in counties where case numbers have surged. The percentage of U.S. residents vaccinated lies at 49.5 percent, and Missouri reports a percentage of 46.5 percent.
In southwest Missouri, health department statistics show a vaccination rate of 34.6 percent for Barry County residents, 29.8 percent for Lawrence County, 31.7 percent for Stone County, 22 percent for Newton County and 18.7 percent for McDonald County.