As the Delta variant continues to fuel a COVID surge not just in Louisiana but across the country, Louisiana State Health Officer Dr.
Joe Kanter believes more needs to be done to stem the tide of new cases.
“Right now we’re in a surge. We need to be increasing vaccinations. We need to be mitigating. We need to be increasing masking – all the things that we know will get us out of this surge sooner rather than later,” Kanter told WWL Radio.
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His proclamation comes on the heels of a new “indoor masking advisory” announced Wednesday by New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell that urges even vaccinated people to wear masks in indoor public spaces but puts the onus on them to comply without any firm mandates.
Kanter said that once again, the population is entering a crucial time as the fight continues against the Delta mutation of the COVID-19 virus.
“A lot of risk out there, and we’re going to have to be really careful the next few weeks so that we make it through this with as minimal loss as possible,” Kanter said.
The Delta variant has taken over as the dominant strain of the virus and continues to thrive, especially on people who have not yet gotten the COVID-19 vaccine.
“This has been a challenging week. I think the next couple weeks will be challenging as well,” Kanter said. “Nationwide now, 83% of new cases of COVID are from Delta. It’s probably around 84 or 85% here in our region, us and our surrounding states. If one was to go be exposed to COVID tomorrow, odds are very likely it would be Delta. And your odds of being exposed to COVID are significantly higher than they were just a few weeks ago.”
