WEVE GOT TO MOVE RAPIDLY.
IT CANT BE -- IT CANT BE
WEEKS.
ITS GOT TO BE DAYS.
>> THAT IS NOT FOOTAGE FROM LAST
YEAR.
THAT IS TONIGHT.
HOSPITAL AND COUNTY HEALTH
OFFICIALS IN SPRINGFIELD,
MISSOURI TONIGHT ANNOUNCING
HOSPITALS IN SPRINGFIELD ARE
FULL.
THE TIDE OF COVID PATIENTS IS
STILL ONLY INCREASING.
THEY ARE ASKING THE STATE TO
COME IN AND OPEN AN ALTERNATE
CARE FACILITIES, PRESUMABLY SOME
KIND OF EMERGENCY FIELD
HOSPITAL, IN SPRINGFIELD,
MISSOURI BECAUSE THE ICUs ARE
FULL, THE VENTILATORS ARE MAXED
OUT, THE STAFF IS MAXED OUT, THE
BEDS THERE ARE AT CAPACITY.
AGAIN, THIS IS NOW.
WEVE BEEN WATCHING OVER THE
LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS AS
HOSPITALS IN SOUTHWEST MISSOURI
HAVE BEEN SOUNDING THIS ALARM
ANNOUNCING THEY WERE HITTING NEW
RECORDS, OPENING NEW COVID
UNITS, MAKING PUBLIC APPEALS FOR
RESPIRATORY THERAPISTS TO COME
FROM OTHER PARTS OF THE COUNTRY
TO COME HELP IN SPRINGFIELD,
MISSOURI.
ITS JUST A BAD COMBINATION
THERE RIGHT NOW.
THIS AGGRESSIVELY CONTAGIOUS
DELTA VARIANT FINDING VERY
FERTILE TERRITORY IN MISSOURIS
LARGELY UNVACCINATED POPULATION.
IN SOUTHWEST MISSOURI NO COUNTY
HAS MORE THAN 35% OF ITS
POPULATION VACCINATED.
AND IF YOU WIDEN THE LENS A
LITTLE BIT BEYOND JUST
SPRINGFIELD THE SITUATION
ACTUALLY LOOKS A LITTLE ROUGHER.
JUST OUTSIDE SPRINGFIELD,
MISSOURI TO THE SOUTHEAST IS A
SMALL RURAL COUNTY CALLED HOWELL
COUNTY.
THERES NO GOOD-SIZE CITIES
THERE.
ITS A RURAL PLACE, VERY WHITE,
VERY CONSERVATIVE.
AS FAR AS I CAN TELL, THAT
COUNTY MADE NATIONAL NEWS
PRECISELY ONCE IN THE PAST 15
YEARS.
IN 2008 WHEN SOMEBODY PUT UP A
RACIST BILLBOARD OF THEN
PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE BARACK
OBAMA WEARING A TURBAN.
THAT COUNTY, NOT SURPRISINGLY,
VERY CONSERVATIVE, RURAL
SOUTHERN MISSOURI, AND THE
OZARKS DOWN NEAR THE ARKANSAS
BORDER.
THEYVE GOT PARTICULARLY LOW
RATES OF VACCINATION THERE.
AND IN HOWELL COUNTY THEY DONT
HAVE A LOT OF HEALTH
INFRASTRUCTURE.
ITS JUST NOT THAT BIG A PLACE.
AND IF YOU GET REALLY SICK IN
HOWELL COUNTY, MISSOURI WHAT
THEY DO IS THEY SEND YOU TO
SPRINGFIELD.
ABOUT AN HOUR AND A HALF, TWO
HOURS AWAY.
BUT AGAIN, IN SPRINGFIELD RIGHT
NOW THEYRE FULL.
IN SPRINGFIELD THEYRE BEGGING
THE STATE TO SET UP SOME NEW
POP-UP EMERGENCY HOSPITAL AND
PLEASE, THEY NEED IT WITHIN
DAYS, THEY CANT WAIT WEEKS, IT
NEEDS TO HAPPEN NOW.
AND ITS ONE THING TO SEE THAT
DESPERATION IN THE CITY OF
SPRINGFIELD AS THEIR COVID
NUMBERS GO THROUGH THE ROOF.
ITS ANOTHER THING TO REALIZE
THAT ALL THE LESS POPULATED
COUNTIES AND COMMUNITIES, THE
LESS RESOURCED COUNTIES AND
COMMUNITIES IN THAT WHOLE PART
OF THE STATE, THEY WERE ALL
COUNTING ON BEING ABLE TO SEND
THEIR FOLKS TO SPRINGFIELD WHEN
THE VIRUS STARTED RIPPING
THROUGH THOSE LARGELY
UNVACCINATED COMMUNITIES AS
WELL.
WHAT DO YOU DO IF YOURE IN THAT
SITUATION?
A FEW DAYS AGO A VIEWER FROM
MISSOURI SENT US A PUBLIC PLEA
THAT HAD JUST BEEN POSTED ON
FACEBOOK BY OZARKS HEALTH CARE
IN HOWELL COUNTY BEGGING PEOPLE
IN THE COUNTY TO BE VACCINATED
BUT ALSO SHOWING UNDERSTANDING
THAT PEOPLE DONT WANT TO DO IT,
OR AT LEAST THAT THEYRE WORRIED
ABOUT BEING SEEN DOING IT.
AND SO IN HOWELL COUNTY,
MISSOURI THE BIG-HEARTED
QUICK-THINKING HEALTH
AUTHORITIES THERE HAVE COME UP
WITH SOMETHING.
THEYRE NOW OFFERING DISCREET
VACCINE APPOINTMENTS.
THEYRE MAKING IT POSSIBLE
BASICALLY FOR PEOPLE TO GET
VACCINATED IN SECRET.
THEY POSTED ON FACEBOOK, "WE
KNOW -- EXCUSE ME.
WE UNDERSTAND GETTING VACCINATED
IS A PERSONAL CHOICE.
CHOOSING TO GET VACCINATED HAS
BEEN PUT IN A STRANGE LIGHT.
FOR SOME GETTING A VACCINE MAY
MEAN LOSING FRIENDSHIPS.
BUT IT IS A CHOICE THAT CAN
IMPACT SO MANY LIVES OTHER THAN
YOUR OWN.
IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE
VACCINE, ANY QUESTIONS, WE ARE
HERE TO ANSWER THEM.
IF YOU NEED TO SCHEDULE YOUR
VACCINE, WE ARE HERE TO HELP."
AND THEN GET THIS.
"IF YOU ARE AFRAID OF WALKING
INTO A PUBLIC AREA WHERE YOU
MIGHT BE SEEN GETTING YOUR
VACCINE, WE WILL WORK TO
ACCOMMODATE EVEN MORE OF A
PRIVATE SETTING FOR YOU TO
RECEIVE YOUR VACCINE."
HOWELL COUNTY, MISSOURI.
THAT POST HAS BEEN SHARED BY THE
LOCAL COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT.
IT IS DESPERATE IN THAT PART OF
THE COUNTRY RIGHT NOW.
AND IF IT MEANS PEOPLE NEED
SECRET PRIVATE VACCINE
APPOINTMENTS TO GET VACCINATED
WITH NOBODY KNOWING THATS WHAT
THEYRE DOING, LOCAL HEALTH
AUTHORITIES WILL NOW DO THAT FOR
YOU.
BUT WIDEN THE APERTURE ON THIS
STORY SORT OF GETS YOU TO EACH
NEW STORY HERE.
CRISIS IN SOUTHWEST MISSOURI IN
SPRINGFIELD WHERE THE HOSPITALS
ARE NOW BEING OVERRUN.
THEYRE AT CAPACITY WITH THE
NUMBERS STILL SPIKING.
CRISIS IN ALL OF SOUTHERN
MISSOURI AS THE VIRUS RUNS
RAMPANT THERE AND THERES
NOWHERE TO SHIP PATIENTS IN PART
BECAUSE SPRINGFIELD HAS NO ROOM
AT THE INN.
WIDEN THE APERTURE A LITTLE
FURTHER, THIS IS THE HEADLINE IN
THE KANSAS CITY STAR YESTERDAY,
"VACCINATION RATES IN SOME
KANSAS CITY AREA COUNTIES LOWER
THAN IN HARD-HIT SPRINGFIELD."
SO YEAH, SOUTHWEST MISSOURI,
SPRINGFIELDS IN CRISIS COPING
WITH THIS DELTA VARIANT THAT
INFECTS UNVACS NAIPTED SO
EASILY.
BUT HEAD UP THE HIGHWAY TO
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, TRIPLE
THE SIZE OF SPRINGFIELD AND THE
CITY ITSELF, THE KANSAS CITY
METRO AREA HAS 2.1 MILLION
PEOPLE, THEYVE GOT VACCINATION
YOU WIDEN THE LENS ON THIS AND
YOU START TO SEE HOW THIS
AFFECTS OTHER PLACES.
RIGHT?
CHICAGO, FOR EXAMPLE, SO WORRIED
ABOUT WHATS GOING ON IN
SOUTHERN MISSOURI THAT IF YOU
WANT TO TRAVEL TO CHICAGO FROM
MISSOURI OR ARKANSAS AND YOU ARE
UNVACCINATED THE CITY OF CHICAGO
NOW SAYS AS OF YESTERDAY YOU
MUST QUARANTINE FOR TEN DAYS OR
HAVE A NEGATIVE COVID-19 TEST.
AGAIN, AS A CONDITION OF YOUR
TRAVEL TO CHICAGO.
BUT JUST KEEP WIDENING THE LENS.
RIGHT?
IF WEVE LEARNED ANYTHING IN
THIS MISERABLE PANDEMIC IT IS
THAT VIRAL DYNAMICS DO NOT CARE
ABOUT HUMAN LABELS AND BORDERS.
UNLESS YOU SUPPRESS THE VIRUS
EVERYWHERE, PEOPLE ARE
VULNERABLE ANYWHERE.
WE RECENTLY STOPPED USING
GEOGRAPHIC LABELS FOR DIFFERENT
VARIANTS OF THE CORONAVIRUS, BUT
THE DELTA VARIANT THAT IS
WREAKING SUCH HAVOC RIGHT NOW,
IT FIRST EMERGED IN INDIA,
RIGHT?
WITH THEIR RAGING WILDFIRE OF AN
OUTBREAK.
AND IT MAY HAVE BEEN EASY FOR
AMERICANS TO SEE WHAT WAS GOING
ON IN INDIA AS A SORT OF SAD FAR
AWAY FOREIGN STORY.
BUT NOW THAT VARIANT BORN IN
INDIA IS THE ONE THAT IS RIPPING
THROUGH THE OZARKS AND SOUTHWEST
MISSOURI.
AND ITS NOT LIKE WEST PLAINS,
MISSOURI AND HOWELL COUNTY IS A
BIG HUB FOR INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL
FROM INDIA.
ITS JUST THAT THIS IS A GLOBAL
PANDEMIC.
IT DOESNT GO AWAY ANYWHERE
UNTIL IT GOES AWAY EVERYWHERE.
AND THE ONLY WAY IT GOES AWAY IS
BY GETTING PEOPLE THE VACCINE.
AND AS THIS THING RIPS THROUGH
MORE UNVACCINATED POPULATIONS,
IT PRODUCES MORE AND MORE DEADLY
VARIANTS.
THATS THEN SPREAD TO EVERY
CORNER OF THE GLOBE.
IF YOU WIDEN THE LENS ALL THE
WAY OUT, THROW IT ALL THE WAY
OPEN, IT IS CLEAR THAT IT IS NOT
JUST THE SORT OF POETIC PIE IN
THE SKY NOTION THAT HUMANITY
NEEDS TO ALL PULL TOGETHER AT
TIMES LIKE THIS.
IT IS SELF-INTEREST.
FOR EVERY COMMUNITY AND EVERY
COUNTRY.
NO MATTER HOW FAR AWAY THOSE
OTHER PLACES MIGHT SEEM OR