Missouri fights surge as New York salutes health workers

By HEATHER HOLLIN SWORTH and DEEP TIHAJELA Associated Press

New York held a ticker tape parade on Wednesday for healthcare professionals and others who helped survive the darkest days of COVID-19. Resistance to vaccination.

Split-screen images give a glimpse of what public health experts say may be in front of the United States, even if the economy is reopened and life returns to near normal: Outbreaks in the corners of countries with low vaccination rates.

“I have a lot of gratitude for the smooth recovery,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio, New York City, who rode a parade float with the hospital employees at the Canyon of Heroes, which is lined with skyscrapers. did. Broadway where astronauts, returning soldiers and championship teams gather.

Meanwhile, in Missouri, the Springfield region was hit hard, and one hospital had to rent a ventilator on the weekend of July 4, helping respiratory therapists from other states on social media. I begged for. Members of the new federal “surge response team” have also begun to arrive to curb the outbreak.

Missouri not only leads the country in new cases relative to its population, but also averages 1,000 cases per day, about the same number as the entire northeastern part, including the big cities of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts. ..

California, with a population of 40 million, posts slightly more cases than Missouri, with a population of 6 million.

With the widespread acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine in the northeastern states, cases, deaths and hospitalizations have plummeted to almost zero.

Vermont is 26 days old and has a new single digit case number. The Maryland Governor’s Office said all deaths recorded in June were unvaccinated. In New York City, the epicenter of the deadly epicenter in the United States in the spring of 2020, the number of deaths peaked at over 800 people a day, but there were no reports of deaths and people spend the day on a regular basis. There is.

The problem with Missouri is that, as health experts see, only 45% of the state’s population is vaccinated at least once, compared to 55% of the US population. Some rural counties near Springfield have immunization rates for teens and 20s.

At the same time, delta variants are rapidly becoming a major stock in the state. Wastewater tests show that it extends from rural areas to more populous areas.

Mercy Hospital Springfield reported on Tuesday that more than 120 patients were hospitalized with COVID-19. This is the highest total since the pandemic began. During the last two weeks of reporting in the county surrounding Springfield, the highest number of 17 deaths since January. No one was vaccinated, officials said.

Erik Frederick, Chief Administrative Officer of Mercy, said the staff were dissatisfied with the vaccine, “this time we can prevent this.”

“We try to persuade people, but it’s like you’re speaking another language,” he lamented. “There is no way they can be vaccinated. Their personal freedom is more important.”

Mercy System announced on Wednesday that it requires vaccinations for staff at Springfield hospitals and 29 other hospitals and around 900 clinics in Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas. About 75% of more than 40,000 employees are vaccinated.

Missouri also didn’t have a state-wide mask mandate. The sentiment towards government intervention is so strong that Brian Steele, the mayor of Nixa’s suburbs of Springfield, is facing a call election after imposing the mask rules, despite the expiration date.

At Cox South, another hospital in Springfield, some patients are in their 20s and 30s, said Ashley Kimbering Cassadó, vice president of clinical services. She said she had hope when she saw the COVID-19 number when she was preparing to return from maternity leave in May.

“When I returned from maternity leave, I really thought that the COVID wasn’t gone, it was very manageable. Then it suddenly started to skyrocket,” she said, almost everything the hospital is sending for testing. He added that the virus sample has been proven to be a delta variant.

Citing an increase in cases, the Springfield School District has reinstated the masking requirements for the Wednesday-Summer program.