JBE: No COVID spike here, but problem areas persist

Louisiana isn’t seeing the post-opening rise in COVID-19 infections being reported in some states. But that doesn’t mean the coronavirus isn’t a threat, according to Gov. John Bel Edwards at a Wednesday press conference.
“We are not seeing a spike in cases,” Edwards said. “There are a few regions that continue to concern us.”
A count by National Public Radio found at least 14 states in which daily case counts are up at least 50% compared to two weeks ago, after many states began to ease economic and social restrictions imposed to prevent the spread of the virus.
But the increases aren’t easy to pin down. Two states that were among those moving most quickly to reopen, Texas and Florida, are in the 50%-plus category. But another quick-reopening state, Georgia, is seeing 5% fewer to 5% more cases, the category into which Louisiana falls.
Louisiana reported 418 new daily cases Wednesday and has recorded 44,030 since testing began. Of those who have been infected, 33,904 are presumed to have recovered. Another 2,855 have died, leaving about 7,000 people with active COVID cases.
The state is only this week reaching the point at which 10% of residents have been tested. And all of those infections were transmitted while mitigation measures such as economic restrictions and limits on crowd sizes were in effect, Edwards noted.
The areas for concern are the Department of Health regions centering on Monroe, Alexandria and Lake Charles where case counts have been rising, and where hospitalizations have been going up or have plateaued.
The case numbers and hospitalizations are important indicators in how successful the state is in preventing the spread of COVID-19, Assistant Depart-ment of Health Secretary Dr. Alex Billioux said. And not just for the obvious reason.
The state exceeded its goal of 200,000 tests in May, so the increased testing would be expected to turn up more COVID cases. But hospitalization numbers that rise along with new cases are a sign that the disease is continuing to spread.
Both Edwards and Billioux urged residents again to practice social distancing, wear masks and practice COVID hygiene.
“It is so disheartening to find out you have people getting together to play a card game for hours at a time,” Edwards said, “and they’re coming from different households and doing that in proximity to each other and they’re not wearing masks. And all of a sudden, a big percentage of those people come down with COVID.”
Edwards said people are frequently asking him if COVID-19 is coming back.
“It hadn’t left,” he said. “And I don’t think it’s going to go away between now and fall. We’re having a conversation that is inconsistent with the facts.”
State officials are reporting that contact tracers have made attempts to reach 97% of the people known to have been in the presence of someone tested positive for COVID-19.
But only about 50% of the people called by contact tracers are taking the calls, Billioux said.
He said the reluctance to take the calls may reflect attempts to avoid telemarketers. Or people may be trying to avoid an uncomfortable conversation about COVID-19.
The tracers can refer people who lack resources to take further precautions, Billioux said. Most of the referrals are for help with obtaining masks and cleaning supplies.
On Wednesday, the Louisiana Office of Public Health reported only one new case in Assumption Parish and none in St. Mary or St. Martin.
Assumption now has a total of 259 cases with 13 deaths.
St. Mary’s case count remains at 342 with 32 deaths.
St. Martin’s count remains at 295 with 25 deaths.