Louisiana COVID-19 Numbers Continue To Rise, New Orleans Faces Shortage In Supplies

Louisiana faces a climb in coronavirus cases even as state health experts are closely watching “clusters” of people at six nursing homes. New Orleans, the heaviest hit state, is facing a critical shortage of medical supplies as they are having supply problems on protective equipment and ventilators.

Collin Arnold, the local Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness director, said that the coronavirus outbreak will be “the disaster that defines our generation”, CNN reported. Another news that they are concerned about is the rise of coronavirus cases in the state, which currently stands at 2,305—most of them fatal.

The local food banks have also tallied their supplies which would only last for two days. New Orleans, according to Arnold, had become the “epicenter” for the state. The metro area of the city had around 1,700 confirmed cases, state figures revealed.

The major concern for the Louisiana Department of Health, however, are the nursing homes in the state. It is currently monitoring “clusters”—which are cases where two or more reported occurrences of the virus seem connected—at six nursing homes in the state. Of the six, the Lambeth House Retirement Community in New Orleans has reported 11 deaths, all seemingly connected to the coronavirus.

Louisiana has so far identified its six coronavirus clusters, according to The Advocate. They also added two more and said that the number was expected to grow, especially in retirement communities. The elderly are at highest risk of dying from complications caused by COVID-19.

On Thursday, the Vista Shores Assisted Living and Memory Care facility in New Orleans and the St. James Place home in Baton Rouge were added to the list. The former had four residents who tested positive for COVID-19, while the latter has a resident and two additional workers who are positive for the disease.

Arnold implored people to just stay at home. He also said that those who are saying that this order wasn’t needed did not do their due diligence. For this, the city has created a team of police to enforce this rule and to track down reports of large gatherings.