The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients drops below 1,000 in Louisiana

BATON ROUGE, La. — The number of COVID-19 patients in Louisiana hospitals has dropped below 1,000 for the first time since late March.

“Just over a month ago we had 2,134 individuals in the hospital from COVID-19,” and Wednesday’s number was 931, Gov. John Bel Edwards said on his monthly call-in radio show.

Louisiana Department of Hospitals data show 927 were hospitalized on March 28, and the figure jumped to 1,032 the next day, with the peak Edwards noted on April 13.

The 110 patients on ventilators Wednesday was the lowest since March 25 — the second day for which the state coronavirus website shows such reports. It showed 94 patients needing mechanical help to breathe on March 24 and 163 on March 25.

The number of ventilated patients peaked nine days before hospitalizations, at 571 on April 4.

More than 35,300 cases have been reported in the state and 2,485 people have died from the disease.

Edwards eased pandemic restraints on some businesses Friday and noted it takes a week or two to see whether the increased movement has increased the number of cases.

Three outbreaks reported this week were at crawfish farms and processing plants. People close to the crawfish business told The Advocate they are not surprised since workers live and work close together.

“It’s like a house with a family in it,” farmer and processor David Savoy told The Advocate. “If one person gets it, there’s a good chance everyone’s going to get sick. That’s just the reality of the situation.”

State health officials said this week that 100 people at three Acadiana crawfish facilities have been infected by the novel coronavirus. They wouldn’t identify the businesses, saying they are private and are complying with department recommendations. They are in Lafayette and Acadia parishes, said Tina Stefanski, the Louisiana Department of Health Region Four director.

Savoy said his farm and factory, near Church Point in Acadia Parish, have not been affected.

Such businesses rely on workers from Mexico and other countries for seasonal harvesting and processing.

Workers on H-2B visas make up as much as 70% of the processors’ staffs, said Maria Bampasidou, an assistant professor of agriculture economics and agribusiness at Louisiana State University.

Many such workers and those on H-2A visas at crawfish farms rent trailers or dormitory-like housing from their employers.

Close working quarters have fueled outbreaks at slaughterhouses and meatpacking plants across the country, noted Dr. Susanne Straif-Bourgeois, an associate professor of epidemiology at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans and a former epidemiologist for the state health department.

With crawfish facilities, she said, “the problem is they’re living together.”

One outbreak was at a crawfish farm with “dormitory-like settings,” Dr. Alex Billioux, assistant secretary for the state’s Office of Public Health, said Monday.

Republican state Rep. John Stefanski of Crowley said he wasn’t surprised by the outbreaks. “It’s the nature of the industry, especially with crawfish peeling plants,” he said. “It’s people working in very close quarters as well as living in the same area.”