MONROE, La. – The coronavirus pandemic is not over. However, signs are encouraging that we have done more than just turn the corner in our battle against the disease. As more and more Louisiana residents are opting to be vaccinated Department of Health officials are seeing the case counts and hospitalization numbers decrease.
While other parts of the country are experiencing a rise in cases, states like Michigan, New York, and New Jersey just to name a few. Cases across Louisiana have remained fairly low compared to peak pandemic numbers.
The latest update from the Louisiana Department of Health found that there were just 439 confirmed new cases of coronavirus reported in the state. There were 300 additional cases that were categorized as probable cases of coronavirus. Those numbers are certainly less than the case counts in the thousands the state was seeing at about this same time last year.
State Health Officer Dr. Joe Kanter says Louisiana’s positivity rate is also very low. In fact, the latest LDH update found positivity rates in the state at only 2.3%. While that is good news, there are still plenty of reasons to be vigilant and maintain caution where the coronavirus is concerned.
LDH says the biggest concern in the state is the number of variants of the disease. The UK variant is the most prevalent in Louisiana. About 13% of current Louisiana cases are the UK variant. While that number is concerning when you consider states like Texas are reporting that 25% of their new cases are the UK variant then you can see just how much better our state is doing compared to others.
So, you can see there is a lot to be encouraged about. As of last Thursday, over 2.1 million doses of vaccine against coronavirus had been administered in the state. Just under 900,000 Louisiana residents have had their vaccine series completed. That certainly is helping, what else is helping is a common-sense approach to the disease as well. That means wearing face-covering where appropriate and maintaining social distancing protocols whenever possible.
By the way, if you’re interested in getting a coronavirus vaccine there is a number you can call to arrange that. It’s 855-453-0774. The hotline is open Monday through Saturday from 8 am to 8 pm and on Sunday the line is available between Noon and 8 pm. It’s toll-free to call.
Now, with all the stimulus money and oft-times confusing information about the disease out there, there have been instances of ne’er do wells running scams against good people like yourself. Here are the details on some of those scams, hopefully, this will help you avoid any more issues at the hands of this pandemic.
