Catherine O'Neal, MD, Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine
The Delta variant fueled surge in COVID cases has undone over four months of progress the state made in the fight against coronavirus. Louisiana is now seeing about a thousand and a half new cases a day and hospitalizations are at the highest levels since the start of March as the more transmissible and virulent Delta tears through the state’s unvaccinated population.
“We only have two choices, we are either going to get vaccinated and end the pandemic or we are going to accept death, and a lot of it. This surge and another surge,” said LSU Health New Orleans Professor of Clinical Medicine Dr. Catherine O’Neal during a Friday press conference with Governor Edwards.
O’Neal said Delta is a “different beast” than the coronavirus strain that plagued us a year ago.
“It’s different for one main reason, when it gets into our body it hides for a little bit, it’s super smart because we let it learn how to evade our immune system,” said O’Neal. “It hides for a little while and it starts to spread before our immune system knows.”
O’Neal, who spends a lot of her time working at Our Lady of the Lake in Baton Rouge, indicated healthcare workers are seeing a concerning trend when it comes to children.
“Last year kids didn’t seem to spread this virus very much, and they did not seem to get that sick from it,” said O’Neal. “Delta variant is coming for our children. We are seeing increased admissions, increased office visits, we are seeing sick kids.
Delta infections also appear to carry a higher risk of complications for expecting moms.
“This spring our pregnant mothers are at risk. We are seeing them admitted, we are seeing them ventilated and we are seeing the loss of their children,” said O’Neal.
O’Neal said because the virus has mutated so extensively anyone who was infected by last year’s version does not have natural immunity to the new Delta variant.
“Delta variant is sneaky, it is a beast, and it has figured out why you are no longer going to be that person who is fine, it is killing us,” said O’Neal.
Despite this new threat from the Delta variant Governor Edwards says he is not considering reinstating previous COVID restrictions, including the mask mandate, as other states have. He says instead they are focusing on getting more Louisianans vaccinated. Currently only half of all adults in the state have received at least one shot.
Comments