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'Heartbreaking': Mississippi gets 2nd field hospital in days

Samaritan's Purse has brought in more than 50 medical professionals and set up tents with 32 beds in a garage at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.
Credit: AP
Samaritan's Purse staff set up a portable bed in one of four wards that are part of the 32-bed Samaritan's Purse Emergency Field Hospital set up in one of the University of Mississippi Medical Center's parking garages, Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2021, in Jackson, Miss. The field hospital, an outreach program that is part of a non-denominational evangelical Christian organization, joins a 20-bed field hospital and monoclonal antibody clinic opened by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services at UMMC in response to the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the state. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

JACKSON, Miss — Mississippi, one of the nation's least vaccinated states, has opened its second field hospital in days to treat a surge of coronavirus patients. 

The Christian charity relief group Samaritan's Purse arrived in Mississippi has brought in more than 50 medical professionals and set up tents with 32 beds in a garage at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

Days ago another emergency field hospital with federal backing was set up elsewhere on the medical center campus. 

Health officials say the surging delta variant of the virus has hit Mississippi like a a "tsunami," overwhelming the state's hospital system. 

Only 34% of the state's population is fully vaccinated.

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