Louisiana continues to break COVID hospitalization records

BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana’s chief public health officer said Friday that about 1% of the state’s entire population has become infected with COVID-19 over the past two weeks as coronavirus hospitalizations continue to climb to new heights amid the state’s worst surge since the pandemic began.

“We continue to set new records for the amount of COVID that circulates in our communities, and we continue to not yet see any tangible signs that we are turning the corner. And that, quite frankly, is terrifying,” said Dr. Joe Kanter, the governor’s top coronavirus adviser.

For the fourth day, Louisiana set new coronavirus hospitalization records. The state Department of Health reported 2,421 people were in hospitals around the state with COVID-19, more than eight times the number hospitalized at the start of July.

Gov. John Bel Edwards warned Louisiana’s 4.6 million residents that their state’s place at the epicenter of the latest coronavirus surge isn’t lessening.

Louisiana is confirming thousands of new coronavirus cases each day, driven by the highly contagious delta variant. The state has seen the highest number of new cases per capita across the country over the last week, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that shows Louisiana averaging 653 COVID-19 infections for every 100,000 residents.

“We have no reason to believe in our data that we’ve reached the peak,” the Democratic governor said.

The percentage of coronavirus tests coming back positive continues to go up in Louisiana, reaching more than 15% Friday in a sign that the situation is worsening. Kanter said 15% of emergency room visits in the state are now related to COVID-19.

Inundated with coronavirus patients, 50 hospitals have asked the state for staffing assistance, warning they can no longer adequately provide care to the community, Kanter said. Louisiana is seeking disaster medical assistance teams from the federal government. One team with nearly three dozen health care workers arrived Monday at Louisiana’s largest hospital — Our Lady of the Lake Medical Center in Baton Rouge.

Edwards offered some signs of hope, pointing to growing numbers of people newly seeking coronavirus vaccines. Kanter said immunizations increased more than 500% over the last month.

The state has a long way to go, with one of the nation’s lowest coronavirus vaccination rates. Only 37% of Louisiana’s population is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to state health department data.

The governor reissued a statewide mask mandate this week, in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19.