Delta variant drives nationwide COVID surge, prompting new mandates

Healthcare workers in Missouri are bearing the brunt as hospitalizations among people with COVID-19 have nearly doubled in a month.  

The hardest hit area includes Springfield, where there's been a dramatic rise of COVID-19 patients in one hospital system since mask mandates were lifted before two big holiday weekends. CoxHealth brought in a new morgue and doubled its oxygen reserves to prepare for the anticipated rise in cases and deaths. On Monday, it had 187 coronavirus patients — its highest ever.  "We're very concerned at this point because we are headed back into school and we have seen disease spreading in our kids who are not vaccinated and don't have the option to be vaccinated," said Katie Towns, director of Springfield-Greene County Health Department.