Springfield says help with COVID overflow site was too slow

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) – Springfield-area health officials have withdrawn their request for a temporary site to handle an overflow of COVID-19 patients because they said it couldn’t be put up quickly enough.

The Springfield-Greene County Health Department requested the site on July 14.

The agency says that while waiting for approval, the city’s two hospitals hired additional staff and reused existing space.

Elsewhere in the state, the surge has led to nursing home deaths, cancelations, the reinstatement of mask mandates and a call for state workers to get vaccinated.