COVID deaths climb; new strain likely on way
COVID-19 has claimed the lives of at least eight more Lincoln Parish residents over the past four weeks.
The death toll from the virus now stands at 80, with three more local deaths likely attributable to COVID, according to the Louisiana Department of Health.
As of Friday — the same day Gov. John Bel Edwards said the state’s third wave of COVID may be plateauing — LDH reported 2,986 confirmed cases of the virus in Lincoln Parish since March of last year.
Since Jan. 3, eight more parish residents have died from COVID and 275 confirmed cases have been reported, LDH numbers show. However, at least one daily report included cases backlogged from November.
Meantime, both Edwards and Dr. Joe Kanter, Louisiana’s chief health officer, warned Friday that the more contagious U.K. variant of the coronavirus could be the dominant strain in the state by March.
Though only one incidence of the B117 strain has been confirmed in Louisiana so far, “we should presume we have many more cases,” Kanter said during a press briefing.
Researchers say the U.K. strain is 50% more transmissible than the current one. Data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday showed that at least 144 cases of the new variant have been recorded across the U.S.
Because of the predicted influx of the U.K. variant, mitigating existing COVID is essential, Edwards said. He again urged Louisianans to wear face masks and practice other mitigation measures. That’s the only way to slow the existing virus, he said.
“It is never too late to do the right thing. The right thing is to wear a mask,” the governor said.
The number of confirmed COVID cases and hospitalizations remain high and continues to stress Louisiana’s healthcare system, he said.
Officials say part of that mitigation is getting vaccinated, but Louisiana is receiving only limited quantities of the vaccines.
“We’ve basically been flat over the last couple of weeks,” Edwards said.
Edwards went on to say the allocations aren’t likely to increase over the next four to five weeks. He said officials initially thought the number of doses would be ramped up, but that hasn’t happened.
“We always believed there would be increased allocations,” Edwards said. “That is going to happen. It just hasn’t happened yet.”
