The state health department reported 50 more COVID-19 deaths Tuesday bringing the death toll to 6,895. The number of COVID patients hospitalized increased by 70 and there are nearly 1, 597 COVID patients in the hospital. Governor John Bel Edwards says he was on a call with CEOs of the state’s largest hospitals this week.
“And I can tell you they are very, very challenged with respect to capacity, primarily around staffing and so forth,” Edwards said in a Zoom call with the Monroe Chamber of Commerce.
Edwards says there’s been a surge in COVID patients following Halloween and Thanksgiving and it’s important to avoid another surge following Christmas. He says the best way to preserve capacity is by following the mitigation measures.
“We are getting at the limits of our capacity and our hospitals and not just as it relates to beds, but there are only so many nurses and doctors and therapists that we have to actually take care of patients,” said Edwards.
Edwards says the state will receive 39-thousand Pfizer vaccines this week and another 40-thousand next week. He says the Moderna coronavirus vaccine which is up for F-D-A approval this week, will be available for Louisiana nursing home residents starting on December 28th.
“100-percent of our nursing homes have contracted with either CVS or Walgreens to go in and administer these vaccines,” said Edwards.
Comments