Officials: Don’t panic but get prepared for Omicron variant

Don’t panic but get prepared.

That’s the word Gov. John Bel Edwards and the state’s top doctor have for Louisianans in the face of the new Omicron variant of COVID-19.

“We want people to be prepared and concerned but certainly not panic,” Edwards said during his first press conference in five weeks.

Omicron has not yet been detected in Louisiana, but both Edwards and Chief Health Officer Dr. Joe Kanter said that doesn’t mean the variant isn’t already here.

The two officials continue to push vaccinations and booster shots as the best precaution against any COVID. Approximately 49% of eligible Louisianans are fully vaccinated, according to the Louisiana Department of Health.

“Clearly that’s not enough,” Edwards said.

Much remains unknown about the new variant that first appeared in South Africa. Omicron has about 50 mutations that are spawning theoretical concerns about its transmission and how the virus might respond to treatment, Kanter said.

“We don’t have great data about how transmissible the variant will be,” Kanter said. “That’s a crucial, crucial concern.”

Nor do researchers know how ill Omicron might make patients, Kanter said.

Louisiana is in a good place right now so far as COVID is concerned, Kanter said. Hospitalizations are low, as is case positivity, he said.

“We need to use this time to our advantage,” he said.

The state spent most of the summer in the clutch of the Delta variant, with hospitalizations soaring to pandemic records. Only in October did Edwards lift the statewide indoor mask mandate, one of the last remaining COVID mitigation measures.

Almost 100% of the current COVID cases in Louisiana are still the Delta variant, Edwards said.

“Obviously we remain in this fight against the pandemic every single day,” he said.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Ruston’s Northern Louisiana Medical Center said the hospital is prepared for any new COVID, including Omicron.

“We will continue to follow all Centers for Disease Control guidelines to ensure the health and safety of our patients and our community,” NLMC’s Tami Davis said.

NLMC continues to screen patients and visitors for fever, respiratory symptoms and other signs of COVID before they enter the hospital, Davis said.

She said the facility is also keeping it personal protective equipment inventory up in case of an influx of COVID patients.

The number of newly confirmed COVID cases in Lincoln Parish has slowed to an average of about six per day.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

49

• Approximate percentage of eligible Louisianans fully vaccinated, according to the Louisiana Department of Health.