COVID variant spreading fast in La., St. Mary

Louisiana is now the state where COVID-19 is spreading fastest, and it's spreading faster in St. Mary that elsewhere in the state.

At a press conference Friday, Gov. John Bel Edwards and State Health Officer Dr. Joseph Kanter said summer heat that forces people indoors, low vaccination rates, the fast-spreading and hard-hitting Delta COVID variant, and the opening of K-12 schools within the next month amount to what they called a perfect storm.

Vaccines have proven to be safe and effective, and Edwards urged people to get the free shots.

"We're ordering 10% of the vaccine doses available to us, but we have the highest growth rate [in COVID numbers} in the country," Edwards said.

"That has to change, and it has to change now," he said.

The governor is changing his public emergency declaration to recommend, but not mandate:

--That all people, vaccinated or unvaccinated, wear masks indoors away from their households when they can't practice social distancing.

--That businesses should take steps to protect their employees.

--That people should get a COVID test as soon as possible after coming into contact with someone with COVID. Contact is defined as coming within 6 feet of an infected person or spending more than 15 minutes with them.

If the test is positive or if COVID symptoms develop, quarantine immediately.

The coronavirus statistics are some of the most alarming since last winter's third wave of infections:

--The number of new daily COVID cases is up 214% since June 16 and is increasing in all nine Department of Health regions. Another 3,127 cases were reported statewide Friday.

--More than 80% of new cases result from infection with the Delta variant, which was confirmed in Louisiana only about a month ago.

--The percent of tests yielding positive results has grown from 6.3% to 8.7% in a week. St. Mary's positivity for the week ending July 14 was 9%, up 44% from the week before.

--The average number of cases for a week per 100,000 residents, the incidence rate, is at 175 statewide, far above the 100 average that is the threshold for serious concern.

--8% of emergency room visits are now for COVID-like symptoms, Kanter said, adding to the strain already coming from high numbers of RSV cases.

--COVID hospitalizations have grown from about 240 last month to 1,008 Friday.

--92.7% of last week's hospitalized COVID patients were not fully vaccinated. Ninety-one percent of COVID deaths are among the unvaccinated. Vaccinated people who are hospitalized or die tend to be older people or those with other health conditions that make them more vulnerable, Kanter said.

"Make no mistake about it," Kanter said. "The vaccines provide excellent, excellent protection."

The Delta variant can raise viral loads, or the amount of virus in the body, to levels up to 1,000 times greater than the original COVID virus. That probably explains why Delta spreads more easily and is showing up in children more than earlier variants, Kanter said.

He said so-called breakthrough cases, those in which a vaccinated person tests positive for COVID, are inevitable. But the numbers show that vaccinated people who contract COVID rarely show symptoms and rarely die from the coronavirus, Kanter said.

About 40% of Louisiana people have received at least one COVID vaccine shot, Edwards said.

In St. Mary, the vaccination rate is at 29.9%, about where it has been the last few weeks.