For the 2nd time in a month, Freeman Health System in Joplin did not hold their COVID-19 press briefing on Wednesday. Is it a sign that conditions in the area are improving? KRPS’s Fred Fletcher-Fierro has more.

Freeman Health System in Joplin on Wednesday reported a total of 15 COVID-19 patients including those out of isolation. 1 was on a ventilator, and 5 in the COVID ICU. Nearly the same number of COVID patients Freeman reported last week.

Data Researcher Matthew Holloway, who’s been tracking the pandemic in Missouri since the outset, says he sees new COVID case spikes sector by sector around the state. “It’s happened regionally, early on we had a couple of counties in Northcentral Missouri that had initially reported that they detected the Delta variant. And then that kind of moved into Southwest Missouri, where it really exploded.” The Delta variant then moved to Springfield and Central Missouri. Holloway says that currently, Southeast Missouri is experiencing the brunt of new COVID-19 cases. He is encouraging residents who have held out on receiving the COVID vaccine to reconsider. For 89 9 KRPS, I’m Fred Fletcher-Fierro