The state Department of Health’s COVID dashboard shows hospitalizations have doubled since June 22nd and the percent positive rate for COVID tests has climbed to 19 percent. Director of Infectious Diseases at LSU Health New Orleans, Doctor Julio Figueroa says the uptick is related to a cycle that will probably reoccur every six months or so…
“So we’ve seen that with multiple waves of different variants. I would not be surprised if we saw that again in the fall.”
According to LDH, the number of people of hospitalized statewide is 108, which is a low number compared to what we saw in 2020 and 2021.
Figueroa says people with chronic health conditions, older adults, and anyone with underlying conditions should minimize possible exposure. He says Omicron is still in the community and highly transmissible.
“The variants are more and more contagious. The quality of the mask becomes really important. Those of us who are maybe not at high risk for bad disease, that if we’re sick probably should stay away from large gatherings.”
Figueroa says hospitalizations doubled during the time from about 60 to as many as 140. He says COVID is still a part of our present and future.
“We’re going to be dealing with this virus in the foreseeable future and ways that we deal with the virus are going to be primarily through vaccination immunizations and then some controlled measures.”
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