According to the Louisiana Department of Health, ages five to 17 are reporting the highest percentage of COVID positive cases in the state for the week of August 12th to the 18th with 22-percent. Ochsner Health Hospital Quality Director Dr. Sandra Kemmerly said they are also seeing more pediatric patients in their hospitals.
“We’ve had 35 pediatric patients just in the month of August, and currently we have 15 pediatric patients throughout our system in the hospital,” said Kemmerly.
Kemmerly said as of Tuesday Ochsner does not have any children in the hospital on ventilators, but they have in the past.
“We have had children in our ICUs but today’s numbers do not include any of the children in ICU on ventilators,” said Kemmerly.
As school-age children return to the classroom, hospital administrators are worried that they could see even more pediatric patients. Ochsner Chief Medical Officer Dr. Robert Hart urges parents of young children to get vaccinated in order to protect their children who cannot and…
Related
“Kids need to be wearing a mask, if they are not wearing a mask at school there’s no doubt, we will see increases in the numbers of patients getting sick with COVID,” said Hart.
The next largest age group behind those ages five to seventeen is eighteen- to 29-year-olds with 20-percent of the COVID-positive cases in Louisiana.