Jazz Fest postponed due to COVID; numbers keep rising here
COVID-19 has again led to the postponement of Louisiana's largest music festival.
The disease has also claimed two more lives in St. Mary, and Ochsner Health reported that COVID hospitalizations in its Louisiana and Mississippi hospitals
have surpassed 1,000.
Organizers of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, which was to feature a performance by the Rolling Stones during its Oct. 8-17 run, have postponed
the event.
"We now look forward to next spring, when we will present the Festival during its traditional timeframe," according to a statement posted on the festival's
Facebook page.
Next year's dates are April 29-May 8.
Hailee Thomas, director of Morgan City's Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival, said last week that organizers are monitoring the COVID situation, but
that plans are to continue with the Labor Day event.
Numbers
Friday's Louisiana Office of Public Health reported 71 new COVID cases in St. Mary since Thursday, raising the pandemic total to 6,635, a number equal to
about one of every eight parish residents.
The percentage of St. Mary COVID tests returning positive results reached 19.1% in the week ending July 28, the latest week for which numbers were
available.
Two more deaths were reported Friday, raising the pandemic death toll to 155. Eight COVID-related deaths were reported in the parish last week.
Statewide, 6,116 new COVID cases were reported by the OPH Friday. Forty-eight deaths were also reported.
The number of hospitalizations across Louisiana rose to 2,421, about 17% higher than the peak during the winter 2020-21 COVID surge.
In Louisiana Department of Health Region 3, which includes St. Mary, 490 of 596 total hospital beds and 68 of 79 intensive care beds were occupied.
Ochsner
Louisiana's largest health care system reported Sunday on its Facebook page that it had 1,003 COVID patients in its Louisiana and Mississippi hospitals.
On July 20, the system was treating 313 patients.
Ninety percent of the current Ochsner COVID patients are unvaccinated, the Facebook post said.
Ocshner operates four hospitals in its Bayou Region, including Ochsner St. Mary in Morgan City.