With news of President Biden testing positive for COVID today it’s also reflective of case counts and coronavirus hospitalizations on the rise in Louisiana. State Health Officer Dr. Joe Kanter said the Bayou State is still in its sixth surge that started about two months ago and it’s on track to be one of the longest upticks in cases.
“In the middle of this surge the BA.5 took off and has proven to be a much more transmissible variant,” said Kanter.
Kanter said the current surge would have most likely ended had it not been for the BA.5 variant.
Today the state reports more than 3,466 additional COVID cases but Kanter said that’s not necessarily reflective of the actual amount of COVID circulating in Louisiana.
“We’re only picking up on a small fraction of it because so many people test at home and that’s a good thing, it’s good to have easy access to testing,” said Kanter.
And while the BA.5 variant is highly transmissible Kanter said it’s not necessarily as virulent and hospitalizations remain low at 747 when you compare them to case counts.
And after 28 months Kanter said COVID fatigue has definitely set in.
“COVID fatigue is real, it’s been over two years and I think people are tired, it’s just a fact of the matter. But regardless of if you’ve had COVID before or not, you do not want to get it again,” said Kanter.
According to the John Hopkins School of Public Health symptoms of the BA-dot-5 include sore throat and fatigue, but they are less likely to report fevers and/or loss of taste and smell.
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