KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Daniel Freeman says he wouldn't wish going through COVID-19 on anyone.
"I think it's very important to understand the impact of this virus," Freeman said. "Even if you feel or think that it's not real, it's hard for me to understand that knowing that I've experienced it."
Freeman, a former Kansas City, Kansas, firefighter turned hospital chaplain at the University of Kansas Health system, was in the hospital with COVID-19 for a week last year. He went into the hospital at the end of March 2020 and left April 6.
"My issue that I have is fatigue," Freeman said. "I'm still battling my energy level. I'm noticing if I have a good day, I have to be careful going into the next couple days and learning how to relax. It takes me a couple extra days to recuperate."
Freeman said it's also hard for him to understand the rising coronavirus cases in Missouri, mostly in more rural, southwestern counties where fewer people are vaccinated.
The state health department says they've identified the new delta variant in many of these new cases.
Springfield's hospitals have more COVID-19 patients now than ever before. Mercy Hospital Springfield recorded 113 patients on July 3, matching the highest number of the pandemic. That number is now more than 120.
Cox Health is also struggling to keep up with the number of patients on ventilators.
These are patients who still don't believe the virus is real.
"The majority are denying," Dr. Nana Gaisie with Cox Health in Springfield said at a recent news conference. "And then we have a few that had COVID before last year and feel like they are protected when the science says after you get COVID, after a couple of months, your antibody wears off."
Doctors say 95% of new COVID cases in the country are in unvaccinated people.
In Missouri, 39% of people are fully vaccinated, one of the lowest rates in the nation.
Missouri received more than 5,600 doses of the Moderna, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines in the past week.
"Pretty much all cases of deaths related to COVID-19 are preventable at this point," said Dr. Bechara Choucair, White House vaccination coordinator. "We know vaccines work. We have plenty of vaccine. We have to make sure people are getting this message and then making an informed decision."
Missouri's state health department requested help from federal COVID-19 surge response teams. The first team member arrived in Springfield on Tuesday.
"We know there are a lot of things we can support states with, anywhere from disease investigation, monoclonal antibodies, making sure we have people on the ground to support efforts that states and local are doing," Dr. Choucair said.
Choucair said surge response teams will also help with "testing, therapeutics, federal personnel, and technical assistance offered by the CDC to help with epidemiology, data analysis, field investigations and other public health work." They'll also work with communities to increase vaccinations.
Freeman said after beating COVID-19, his message is this: "If you don't care about yourself, care about your neighbor."
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