U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams said this week is going to be the “hardest and the saddest” for “most Americans’ lives,” by describing the time as a “Pearl Harbor moment” and a “9/11 moment.” In Missouri, more than 2,300 people have tested positive for COVID-19 and at least 34 people have died.
Of Missouri’s roughly 10,800 hospital beds, about 3,700 – or 35% – are currently available to help fight the coronavirus, according to state information. The data also says some 400 people are in a hospital today battling the respiratory illness and about 1,100 ventilators are on hand.
How many Missouri hospital beds, ventilators are available to battle COVID-19?
During Saturday’s press briefing, Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services Director Randall Williams said the state is now publishing daily totals of hospital beds and ventilators available statewide.
“And so that’s incredibly important as we use our testing data and look at our admissions to look at surge capacity, especially in those communities that we have more cases, such as in the St. Louis area, the Springfield area and to that extent in Jackson County,” said Williams.
The information says the Show-Me State has about 150 hospitals.
State and federal officials having been reviewing several sites as possible makeshift hospitals if Missouri runs out of bed space at traditional hospitals. Those include the Kemper Arena and Independence Event Center in Kansas City, Hearnes Center in Columbia, America’s Center in St. Louis, the Show-Me Center in Cape Girardeau, Hammons Student Center and JQH Arena in Springfield and Missouri Southern State University’s Leggett and Platt Athletic Center in Joplin.
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