'Need To Be There': Wife Brings Tent To Hospital Window Every Day

KANSAS CITY, KS — At first, the Collins family in eastern Kansas wasn't too concerned with the spread of the coronavirus. Roger and Billie Collins had a successful business that had been in the family for 55 years and figured they were well-prepared, at least financially, for the duration of the crisis.

Coming up on a year later, the family provides a painful example of people affected by both the health and economic struggles caused by the virus.

Roger Collins has been in a hospital since July, still suffering from complications caused by contracting the virus. The family business, Central Publishing Co., had to close in October as a result, KCTV reported.

But the family is not giving up. And Billie Collins is making sure her husband knows that he has every bit of family support as he fights to come home one day.

Every day since July, Billie Collins has visited her husband in the hospital. When restrictions at the Kansas City hospital he's at were tightened and Billie Collins was no longer allowed in his room, she started bringing a tent to put right outside the window.

She's done this every day, no matter how bad the winter weather gets.

“He's the love of my life, and I know I'm the love of his life," Billie Collins told KCTV. "That sounds conceited. But you know in 32 years you hear that over and over and over, and you truly — I truly — believe that.”

Some days, Billie Collins will bring the couple's children or grandchildren to the visit. Love notes have been inscribed on the glass, giving him every bit of good vibes possible.

“My granddaughter comes. They sit her up on the window and she draws pictures to him, and they have blowing kisses and wars,” Billie Collins said. “As much as I think he's fighting for me, he's fighting to be a dad and a grandpa.”

Billie Collins looks forward to the day she will again get to give her husband a hug. She has not been able to do so since July. It's her duty, she said, to be there for him every day in case she's needed.

“How do I know he doesn't need somebody?" she said. "So, I need to be there.”

Read more from KCTV

The Latest

Although cases, deaths and hospitalizations related to the coronavirus are down nationally, the economic recovery appears to be going much slower.

The number of Americans applying for unemployment aid rose last week to 861,000, according to an Associated Press report. That's an uptick of about 13,000 from the previous week, the report states.

In all, nearly 10 million American jobs have been lost since the pandemic began last March.

But while some states ease restrictions, partly as a way to help bring back jobs, health experts are urging them to proceed with great caution as the B.1.1.7 coronavirus variant that first originated in the United Kingdom has become as prevalent as it has ever been in the United States.

“Now is not the time to fully open up," Karthik Gangavarapu, a researcher at Scripps Research Institute, told the AP. "We need to stay vigilant."

At least 1,277 cases of the more-contagious variant have been reported across 42 states, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Wednesday, according to The New York Times.

The increased concern over the spread of the variant — as well as the others, including the ones that originated in South Africa and Brazil — has led some federal lawmakers to push for billions of dollars to help track them.

Until then, the Biden administration said Wednesday it has pledged nearly $200 million in federal funding as a "down payment" to jump-start the process.

Walensky said this will allow CDC labs to process up to 25,000 samples a week, up from the 7,000 or so that they are currently able to handle in a week.

On the vaccine front, Biden's pre-inauguration goal to have 100 million shots administered during the first 100 days of his presidency is looking like a "lowball" number, according to another report from the Times. About 35.6 million doses have been administered in the first four weeks of his presidency, an average of 1.72 million doses a day over the past week.

Biden said Tuesday night that vaccines should be available to anyone who wants one by the end of July, the Times reported.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, has a similar projection. He told CNN earlier this week he expects that widespread vaccinations could begin in the spring, and that a large portion of the country will have the opportunity to be vaccinated by the end of the summer.

So far, about 12 percent of the American population has taken at least one dose of the two vaccines approved here. But widespread skepticism remains, notably among military personnel.

Some Army units are seeing as few as one-third agree to the vaccine, the AP reported.

Air Force Maj. Gen. Jeff Taliaferro, vice director of operations for the Joint Staff, told Congress on Wednesday that “very early data” suggests that just up to two-thirds of the service members offered the vaccine have accepted.

The demand for a vaccine is high elsewhere, however — such as in Massachusetts, where the state's vaccine finder website crashed Thursday morning just as about 1 million additional residents became eligible for it, NBC Boston and others have reported.

The high volume of traffic to the site may have caused it to crash, state health Commissioner Dr. Monica Bharel told the news station.

As health experts continue to urge Americans to continue wearing masks while in public, thousands of people may have already fallen victim to the distribution of phony masks that aren't vetted against the virus.

Federal agents have seized roughly 10 million fake 3M brand N95 masks in recent weeks, the result of an ongoing investigation into counterfeits sold in at least five states to hospitals, medical facilities and government agencies, according to a report from The Associated Press.

The most recent seizures occurred Wednesday when Homeland Security agents intercepted hundreds of thousands of counterfeit 3M masks in an East Coast warehouse that were set to be distributed, officials said.

Investigators also notified about 6,000 potential victims in at least 12 states including hospitals, medical facilities and others who may have unknowingly purchased knockoffs, urging them to stop using the masks. Officials encouraged medical workers and companies to go to 3Ms website for tips on how to spot fakes.

Newest Numbers

As of Thursday afternoon, the United States had reported more than 27.8 million cases and more than 492,700 deaths from COVID-19-related illnesses, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

At least 2,361 deaths and 67,352 new cases of coronavirus were reported in the United States on Wednesday, according to a Washington Post database. The Post's reporting shows that over the past week, new daily cases have fallen 25.3 percent, new daily deaths have fallen 12.4 percent and COVID-19-related hospitalizations have fallen 17.7 percent.

More than 73.3 million vaccine doses have been distributed and 57.7 million administered in the United States as of Tuesday, according to the CDC. More than 41 million people have received one dose, and more than 16.1 million have received two.

Currently, 63,398 people are hospitalized with a coronavirus-related illness in the United States, according to the Covid Tracking Project.

As of Thursday, 24 states and U.S. territories remained above the positive testing rate recommended by the World Health Organization to safely reopen. To safely reopen, the WHO recommends states remain at 5 percent or lower for at least 14 days.

Stay up to date on the latest coronavirus news via The New York Times or The Washington Post.

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