Missouri Governor: Health Officials Play COVID-19 Coronavirus Blame Game

[ad_1]

Missouri Governor Mike Parson delivers his state-of-the-state address Wednesday, January 16, 2019 in Jefferson City, Missouri (AP Photo / Charlie Riedel)

Charlie riedel

Associated press

KANSAS CITY, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson suggested on Tuesday that some health officials in southwest Missouri who are publicly discussing a marked increase in COVID-19 cases are trying to find someone to blame and want to scare people into doing so. vaccinate.

Health officials should try to encourage people to get vaccinated, but shouldn’t try to force people to get vaccinated or literally scare them into taking a vaccine because we know it doesn’t work. Parson said during a stop in Kansas City.

Springfield health officials have warned their hospitals are being overrun with new cases fueled by the delta variant. Last week, the Mercy Health System announced it would require employees at its more than 40 hospitals, including one in Springfield, to be vaccinated by the end of September.

We just have to make sure that people aren’t afraid to think that they are doing something wrong by going to the hospital. And I think the message you’re seeing in southwestern Missouri is that more people are just trying to blame someone for this virus. The virus itself is to blame, Parson said.

On Monday, Mercy in Springfield was treating 134,130 COVID-19 patients, while CoxHealth, the other major hospital in Springfields, had 125. Greene County, where Springfield is located, increased its 7-day moving average of new cases dailies from 79 to 165.

[ad_2]