NEW ORLEANS (CN) – The good news in Louisiana is vaccination rates have risen 500% over the past month across a state with some of the lowest rates of vaccination. The bad news is cases continue to skyrocket during the state's fourth and worst Covid-19 surge.
The largest rise in cases is among those under 29 years old, a concerning trend as schools are set to open for the new year and as overburdened hospitals plead for assistance.
“This is the most challenging time that we’ve had to date in this pandemic,” said Dr. Joseph Kanter, state health officer and medical director for the Louisiana Department of Health.
Beginning Aug. 16, anyone over the age of 12, including employees, will be required to show proof of at least one dose of vaccination or a negative Covid-19 test to enter New Orleans-area venues such as restaurants, bars, gyms, indoor sports complexes, concert and music halls and crowded outdoor events.
On Thursday, at least one public school in New Orleans that was slated to open did not, ostensibly because of “an untimely issue” with the bus company that provides transportation, according to texts and emails sent to parents Wednesday night, perhaps indicative of a city on the verge of a shutdown.
It would not be the first time Lycee Francais De La Nouvelle-Orleans, a French immersion school in the New Orleans public charter system, shut down on the eve of a citywide quarantine.
In March 2020, just before Governor John Bel Edwards called for a shutdown due to rising cases that had put an untenable strain on hospitals, Lycee Francais sent an evening text to parents and staff explaining the school would not reopen for the next two days due to a possible Covid-19 exposure by a staff member, a decision that at the time also appeared baffling and garnered criticism.
Officials from Lycee Francais did not immediately reply to an email Thursday over whether the bus situation had anything to do with the latest Covid-19 surge, but email messages Wednesday from both the Louisiana Department of Education and the governor's office came across as confusing, if not also slightly ominous.
“Nothing beats in-person learning and the benefits it provides our children academically, emotionally, and socially. Schools have the ability to establish distance learning environments for students when dealing with quarantines,” wrote Taslin Alfonso, media director from New Orleans Public Schools.
Shauna Sanford, communications director for the governor's office, said "we do not know when this will end” and that Edwards “is not yet ruling stricter mitigation measures out.” Sanford also said Edwards will hold a press conference Friday, the details of which she said were still being finalized.
Since Edwards’ last coronavirus press conference a week ago, cases have continued to grow, with 5,408 new infections and 55 new deaths reported statewide Wednesday. There are currently 2,895 people hospitalized in Louisiana for Covid-19, according to the state health department – the highest since the start of the pandemic.
“The bottom line here is there is no good news … We continue to see no signs of decline” in infections, Kanter warned during a press conference last week.
Kanter said daily diagnoses had risen 952% over the last month and that about 1% of the entire state of Louisiana had become infected with Covid-19 over the prior three weeks. He said the state has a 15.4% positivity rate for coronavirus testing.
It’s the largest number of positive cases since April 22, 2020, during a spike in community transmission in Louisiana at the start of the pandemic.
“Fifty hospitals across the state have reached out to the department of health asking for help – that is 50 hospitals that have reached out to the state, telling us that they can no longer provide the amount of care needed for their patients and they need help – that is a remarkable and unprecedented number,” Kanter said.
Over the course of the first week of August, 50 outbreaks were reported and tracked to 414 new cases, representing the most breakouts in a single week during the entire pandemic, Kanter said. The settings for those outbreaks included summer camps, daycares, bars and restaurants and workplaces.
The number of new cases continue to be highest in two age groups: people under 18 and those between 18 and 29.
“This is not a new trend,” Kanter said. “Individuals of that age are very effective spreaders.”
Kanter said sick kids are presenting to hospitals in numbers and severity that is unprecedented during this pandemic, with the number of young patients admitted to hospitals doubling in two weeks.
He said the state has seen a 500% increase in vaccination over the past month, adding that being vaccinated makes a person 25 times less likely to die of Covid-19. He also urged the use of masks as a way to prevent the spread of the virus, especially the highly contagious delta variant.
Edwards, a Democrat, has received criticism from political opponents after issuing a statewide mask mandate for all public spaces on Aug. 1. The critics include Republican Attorney General Jeff Landry, who issued an opinion last week saying Edwards does not have the authority to require masks in schools.
The governor fired back at Landry’s opposition to masks in schools.
“Not only is he wrong,” Edwards said, “but he is going out of his way to undermine public confidence in the basic mitigation measures that will slow transmission at a time when we need it more than at any other time in this pandemic.
“It is sad, it’s regrettable," he added. "It’s also irresponsible, and it is dangerous.”
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