COVID-19 updates: Missouri treatment centers, a Kansas City father’s survival story
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Kansas City COVID-19 news
As the delta variant of the COVID-19 virus surges across the Kansas City region, officials, hospitals and communities have had to react. Here is our latest coverage.
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Here’s the latest on COVID-19 in the Kansas City area:
Missouri to spend $30 million on treatment centers
Gov. Mike Parson announced Wednesday that Missouri will spend $30 million on treatment centers and contract medical personnel in an effort to relieve hospital capacity strain.
Recently, only 18% of ICU beds statewide remained open, and 21% of inpatient hospital beds were available. More than 2,000 COVID patients are hospitalized in Missouri.
The number of ICU COVID patients is 644, reaching levels not seen since cases began to peak last November. The centers will have the ability to treat 2,000 patients, Parson’s administration said.
Recent ICU patient to community: Get vaccinated
Antwaun Dunnigan, a 39-year-old Kansas City husband and father of four, was recently released from intensive care at Research Medical Center with a message for the community: Get vaccinated.
“COVID is real and getting vaccinated is a real choice you should take, I know that now,” Dunnigan said in a news release from the hospital.
Dunnigan was hospitalized in late July after he was struggling to breathe because of complications with COVID-19. He elected not to receive the vaccine because he was young, healthy and had no significant medical history before he was brought into the emergency room.
“We’ve seen patients experiencing the situation Mr. Dunnigan was in as having the potential for a very long recovery time to regain strength and conditioning, and to feel well enough to return to work,” David McKinsey, an infectious disease specialist with Research Medical Center, said in the release.
McKinsey called it a miracle that Dunnigan was discharged just five days after he was admitted. Often, it can take patients weeks, or months, on supplemental oxygen to recover, he said. And more patients are coming in.
This story was originally published August 12, 2021 at 7:16 AM.
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