Kansas City Hospitals Turning Away Patients as Covid-19 Cases Surge

Posted on October 17, 2020

Fears of a huge third wave of Covid-19 coronavirus cases are becoming a reality. There are reports that some Kansas City hospitals are turning away new patients due to a surge in local cases.

The massive winter wave is expected to be larger and deadly than the initial wave. Reasons for the surge include colder weather sending people indoors, a failure by some to wear masks and the failure to do much to contain the virus in many states over the summer. The U.S. is entering the crucial fall/winter people with cases already averaging over 40,000 a day nationwide. That recently has climbed back up to near 70,000 a day.

A story in the Kansas City Star says some hospitals are seeing their biggest influx of cases yet from the pandemic and they have temporarily stopped accepting ambulances. The article says medical workers are getting sick including 50 employees at the Gove County Medical Center.

CBS Evening News says eight hospitals are turning away patients in Kansas City.

Eight hospitals in Kansas City are now turning away patients as they work to treat an onslaught of new COVID-19 cases.

Tonight, doctors are pleading with governors in several hard-hit Midwestern states to make masks mandatory in public. https://t.co/ItKKS63SYp pic.twitter.com/Yj2XPtxLKy

— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) October 17, 2020