According to the Louisiana Department of Health, the number of patients in the hospital with COVID has increased by 139 over the last week to 678. LDH reported 3,500 more new cases Wednesday and State Health Officer Doctor Joe Kanter says there are many more unreported because of positive cases confirmed through at-home tests.
“You don’t have to count every rain drop to know that its pouring and by every measure there’s a lot of COVID being spread right now,” said Kanter.
Kanter says this is Louisiana’s sixth COVID surge as the BA.4 and BA.5 variants are the dominant strains.
He says, on average, symptoms from these variants are mild but that’s not absolute for people who are considered higher risk.
“People who are of an advanced age, people who have significant underlying comorbidities, specifically people who are immunosuppressed, they continue to be at elevated risks, they really should be considering extra precautions,” said Kanter.
The LDH COVID dashboard shows 64% of the individuals in the hospital are not fully vaccinated. Kanter says the vaccine remains the best tool in preventing serious illness from the virus.
“Our hospitals are not at risk of being overwhelmed right now, we are thankful for that, that’s unfortunately not true for everyone and people need to take stock of their own risk and take added measures to protect themselves if they so choose,” said Kanter.
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