'Heartbreaking': Mississippi gets 2nd field hospital in days

JACKSON, Miss. – On mean days, the store is wherever radical parkland portion visiting Mississippi's lone children's hospital, a gathering adjacent doorway decorated with a logo of a rainbow and sun. Now air-conditioned tents with beds, monitors and oxygen capable the garage's bottommost floor.

By Wednesday, coronavirus patients volition statesman being treated successful Mississippi's 2nd tract infirmary opened wrong days connected the University of Mississippi Medical Center campus. It comes arsenic the surging delta variant of COVID-19 has overwhelmed hospitals successful a authorities with 1 of the nation's lowest vaccination rates.

The archetypal exigency tract infirmary opened past week with national authorities backing aft hospitalizations began spiking successful Mississippi; this 1 is being spearheaded by a Christian alleviation foundation Samaritan's Purse. The North Carolina-based alleviation enactment arrived Sunday with much than 50 much aesculapian professionals to erect tents with 32 much beds.

Ad

University of Mississippi Medical Center spokesperson Marc Rolph was somber astir unfolding events.

“It’s unbelievable that we’re doing this again wrong what? 6 days? Heartbreaking,” helium said of 2 tract hospitals that person gone up.

Mississippi's State Health Officer, Dr. Thomas Dobbs, knows galore of those infected volition beryllium young.

Unlike earlier surges, this question is predominately impacting younger, unvaccinated radical conscionable arsenic classes are resuming, Dobbs said. More children are hospitalized than ever, and 1 betwixt the ages of 11 and 17 died conscionable past week.

“Instead of seeing women hide their parents, we’re seeing women hide their children,” helium said connected a sojourn Tuesday afternoon. "It’s a bittersweet and heartbreaking thing.”

More than 392,300 radical person tested affirmative for the microorganism since the commencement of the pandemic successful Mississippi, a authorities of astir 3 cardinal people. At slightest 7,880 person died since.

Dobbs likens the newest Mississippi surge to a “tsunami” and it has overwhelmed the state's infirmary system. On July 27, immoderate 726 radical were hospitalized with the coronavirus. By Aug. 16 that fig stood astatine 1,623.

Ad

Patients were waiting successful hallways and exigency rooms, with nary beds and nary unit to instantly thin to them.

Dobbs said the microorganism concern successful Mississippi is the worst its ever been, but adjacent the latest tract infirmary volition person a large impact, saying it would bring attraction for those “who mightiness not get attraction of otherwise."

State Epidemiologist Dr. Paul Byers said Tuesday that astir 20,000 Mississippi students are presently quarantined for COVID-19 vulnerability — 4.5% of the nationalist schoolhouse population, according to the latest enrollment figures.

The authorities called connected the national authorities for help, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services deployed a squad of 3 twelve physicians, nurses and respiratory therapists past week to acceptable up the archetypal exigency tract hospital. That site, successful different parking batch astatine the University of Mississippi Medical Center, is serving 20 patients.

Ad

Samaritan's Purse is known for its aesculapian missions crossed the world, including successful Liberia, West Africa, wherever it was connected the frontlines of the Ebola outbreak. It is presently besides successful Haiti helping retired aft a deadly 7.2 magnitude earthquake there.

Since the pandemic's start, the foundation has acceptable up 5 different exigency hospitals successful areas of the satellite hardest deed by the virus, including successful Italy, New York City and Los Angeles County.

Edward Graham, adjunct to the vice president of programs and authorities relations astatine Samaritan's Purse, said his physicians are utilizing their grooming warring Ebola and different emergencies to tackle the microorganism successful Mississippi.

“These hospitals were designed for overseas use; we ne'er thought we’ll beryllium doing this,” helium said. "But our neighbors present successful Mississippi person called and asked for, and we’ve responded."

The inflatable tents — antagonistic pressure, to support the microorganism wrong — are anchored by cinderblock successful lawsuit of storms oregon precocious winds.

Ad

Five beds frankincense acold person been acceptable up to dainty intensive attraction patients with ventilators.

Outside the tents, orangish fencing marks the entranceway to the “hot zone,” wherever lone unit clothed successful afloat PPE — 2 pairs of gloves, protective gowns, goggles, hairsbreadth nets, rubber boots, look coverings — tin go. Before unit permission to participate the “clean zone,” they indispensable lavation with bleach water.

Briefing journalists connected Tuesday, the aesculapian center's head, LouAnn Woodward, renewed pleases for radical to get vaccinated, noting the wellness attraction workforce is exhausted and traumatized. Only 34% of the state's colonisation is afloat vaccinated.

Woodward said that portion Samaritan's Purse is responding to a earthy catastrophe successful Haiti, the concern successful Mississippi is simply a “disaster of our ain making."

“We arsenic a state, arsenic a collective, person failed to respond successful a unified mode to a communal threat, we person failed to usage the tools that we person to support ourselves," she said.

Ad

___

Leah Willingham is simply a corps subordinate for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is simply a nonprofit nationalist work programme that places journalists successful section newsrooms to study connected undercovered issues.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.