Former LDH State Health Officer Dr. Joe Kanter
State health officer Doctor Joe Kanter says more mitigation rules may be needed if the state doesn’t slow down the spread of COVID-19. Kanter is worried about the growing number of COVID patients in the hospital statewide and how to care for them if the surge of patients doesn’t stop.
“If we don’t peak within a week or two, it’s simply going to be a catastrophic situation for hospital, there’s just no way to remotely sustain that,” said Kanter.
Last week, Governor John Bel Edwards brought back an indoor face mask mandate that’s in effect until at least September 1st. At this time there are no capacity restrictions on businesses like restaurants or bars. But Kanter says the daily number of new cases is shocking.
“I would expect more aggressive mitigation measures to be seriously considered if we don’t peak in the one to two week time frame,” said Kanter.
Kanter made the comments while giving a COVID-19 update to the Board of Regents. Another 139 COVID patients have been hospitalized since Monday raising the statewide total to 2,859 on Tuesday.
Not only are hospitalizations rising, but so are the deaths, the state reported 93 COVID fatalities on Tuesday, the highest single-day increase since January 8th.
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