The Louisiana Department of Health reported 6,617 new cases of COVID as of Monday of this week. Almost a third of those new cases were children, according to Gov. John Bel Edwards' office.
Christina Stephens, who is a spokesperson for the governor, said 28 percent of those cases (approximately 1,850) were children. She said that the age groups with the biggest increases in COVID-19 cases were among children, most of whom are not eligible to get vaccinated against the virus."Kids are getting COVID, and most of them will be okay. But some of them will get sick, some of them will get long COVID and some of them will spread it to others," Stephens said.
COVID-19 vaccines are available to all residents aged 12 and older, but that does not include many Louisiana students who returned to school recently.The Louisiana Department of Health doesn’t give a daily breakdown of new cases by age groups but LDH did say that Monday's figures represent an increase in cases among all age groups.
The LDH reported 87 new deaths this week from the virus. 11,918 people in total have died due to the virus in Louisiana since the pandemic began early last year. COVID-19 hospitalizations in Louisiana increased to new record highs on Wednesday of last week before dropping slightly for the past five days.
The state health department says 91 percent of hospitalized patients are unvaccinated.
The rush of COVID-19 patients has stressed the state's health care system to a near breaking point.
Health care professionals continue to urge Louisiana residents to get vaccinated. Vaccinations are available free of charge at multiple locations in Washington Parish.
