Today marks two years since Louisiana reported its first positive COVID case. March 9, 2020 was the start of the pandemic here. State Health Officer Dr. Joe Kanter says there have been tremendous challenges and losses over the past 24 months.
“We’ve made incredible sacrifices, big and small,” said Kanter. “We’ve lost over 16,800 Louisianans…close to a million people nationwide.”
Kanter says it’s important to keep those sacrifices in mind as we move past the worst of this. He’s also been in awe of the resilience of medical professionals and the amazing work they’ve done to save lives and combat the virus.
“I think it’s important to recognize that the next 24 months are not going to be like the prior 24 months,” he said. “We have a much deeper understanding of how this virus spreads and how we can mitigate it if we need to.”
COVID is here to stay in one form or another, says Kanter. But he believes as the science advances and more people are vaccinated, it can become less disruptive, more treatable, and most importantly, more preventable.
“If we have another spike, and to be fair I think we probably will, I don’t think we’ll see as many people hospitalized,” Dr. Kanter said. “I don’t think we’ll see as many people die from COVID.”
Overall there have been more than 1.2 million reported cases of COVID-19 in Louisiana, including 16,832 deaths due to the virus.
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