Louisiana is going backwards in the fight against COVID-19 according to Governor John Bel Edwards.
At his media conference today, Governor Edwards says the state has had three weeks of “going in the wrong direction” when it comes to the coronavirus case numbers.
Edwards says Louisiana “lost all gains” made against the virus in June.
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The state he says, is now seeing new coronavirus cases nearing peaks found back in April when the state was under a stay at home order.
Edwards says as of today, Louisiana reported 70,151 total cases and 3,231 deaths since March.
New data breaks down the case numbers among race, where African-Americans made up the largest percentage of COVID-19 cases. However, the governor said the majority of new cases are among young people. The total number of patients in the hospital with COVID-19 reached 1,022, making it the highest level since May 18.
The governor said he joined 20 hospital CEOs and medical directors from around the state in a phone conference this morning to discuss the numbers. He said that nearly every one on that conference call reported sustained increases in COVID-19 hospitalizations. He also says hospital health officials stressed they are having issues with coronavirus testing, staffing, and treatment options.
The Louisiana Department of Health says bars, industrial settings, restaurants, food processing plants, colleges and universities are the top five places causing COVID-19 outbreaks.
Governor Edwards reiterated the need for people to wear masks in public and to stay at home as the most effective ways of turn the case numbers around.
