Governor John Bel Edwards gives COVID briefing January 13, 2022.
Upon hearing of a trend to intentionally catch COVID so individuals can put the virus behind them, Governor Edwards alerted the public not to and said for some the Omicron variant has severe consequences.
“It isn’t like if you choose to expose yourself and contract COVID you can also decide how severe your case of COVID is going to be, you just can’t do that,” said Edwards.
Edwards said the danger of exposing yourself on purpose to COVID increases the chances of overwhelming the healthcare delivery system. He said even the cases that are referred to as mild will make you feel sick.
“And very sick in some cases. It means that you can probably manage your symptoms at home if you have a mild case, but we have seen many, many cases where symptoms have persisted for a very long time,” said Edwards.
Because the Omicron variant is the most highly transmissible form of COVID to date Edwards said if individuals deliberately infect themselves the outcome affects more than just that one person.
“It’s very irresponsible and dangerous for an individual based on what might happen to that individual should they contract COVID, but collectively speaking it’s a very dangerous situation for the state too if that happens,” said Edwards.
As for a statewide mask mandate, Edwards said that would be dictated by COVID hospitalizations.
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