NEW ORLEANS — The number of people hospitalized from COVID-19 has increased by 580 percent in the last month and the fourth surge hasn't peaked yet. The numbers are still rising. Wednesday, LDH reported 4,699 new cases, 14 new deaths, and 1,524 COVID patients in hospitals.
March 9, 2020, was the first confirmed case in Louisiana. Two weeks later, the stay-at-home order began.
Since then we've seen the climb and fall of three surges. The worst was last winter, but relief followed as vaccinations became available and cases dropped, remaining low for months.
Until now. The fourth surge has been a drastic, quick climb.
"It's happening the fastest rate we've seen of all the surges," said Dr. Mike Hill at St. Tammany Health.
On the Louisiana Department of Health website, Louisiana is covered in red, indicating nearly the entire state is at the highest risk for COVID-19. The percent positivity rate has jumped to 13.2 percent and the number of new cases are comparable to January when COVID cases were at an all-time high.
Hill said the surge will likely continue climbing.
"If you look at the prediction models, this will continue into October," Hills said.
Tuesday, LDH reported the largest single-day increase in hospitalizations since March 2020.
"We've seen a doubling every week in the number of inpatients," Hill said.
St. Tammany Hospital set an unfortunate new record Wednesday with 67 hospitalized COVID patients. That's the highest it's ever been.
"We're seeing a lot of younger patients come in, some in their 20's or 30's and they're very, very sick," Hill said.
Dr. Hill said to keep those numbers from rising, vaccination rates will have to drastically increase. He is seeing more interest recently in vaccines.
"We've opened up more vaccination times to accommodate people," he said.