New COVID cases set another record as omicron spreads; 123 new St. Mary cases Thursday

The omicron variant continues to move rapidly across Louisiana, according to figures from Gov. John Bel Edwards and Public Health Officer Dr. Joe Kanter at a press conference Thursday.

They appealed again to Louisiana residents to get their COVID vaccinations and boosters, and when possible to avoid seeking treatment at hospital emergency rooms, where the percentage of new patients with COVID-like symptoms is at a pandemic high. To protect hospital capacity, they especially urged people not to seek COVID tests at emergency rooms.

This fifth surge in COVID cases is showing no signs of peaking, Kanter said. The hardest-hit age group is 18- to 29-year-olds, usually a sign that cases among older people will soon rise, Kanter said.

The latest numbers on COVID-19 and the now-dominant omicron variant:

--The Louisiana Office of Public Health reported a total of 14,077 new COVID cases statewide from midday Wednesday to midday Thursday. That's the highest one-day total of the pandemic.

--In St. Mary, the pandemic COVID case count reported Thursday was 9,842. That's up by 123 over Wednesday. The parish total has increased by 766 since Dec. 29.

--On Thursday, 1,412 COVID-positive people were in Louisiana hospitals. That's nearly seven times the number of hospitalizations as of Dec. 17.

--Also on Thursday, 134 of 537 hospital beds were open in Department of Health Region 3, which runs east from St. Mary Parish.

--The state reported a one-day total of 12 COVID-related deaths Thursday, one of them in St. Mary. Three COVID deaths have been reported in St. Mary since Jan. 1, raising the pandemic death toll to 233.

--90.2% of Louisiana's new COVID infections are being blamed on the omicron variant.

--The percentage of COVID tests yielding positive results was at 27.2% as of Dec. 29, and officials say it has probably risen since. A 5% positivity rate is considered reason for concern, and a 10% positivity rate is one of the benchmarks for a parish to be called "high risk" for COVID spread.

--Louisiana's COVID incidence rate, a seven-day average of daily new cases per 100,000 members of the population, is at 1,030 per 100,000. The benchmark for "high risk" parishes is 100 per 100,000.

"There has never been so much of the disease in the state," Edwards said. "Transmissibility has never been higher. Positivity has never been higher than it is."

Kanter said that the indications are that omicron is less severe than the delta variant that struck last summer, but the rapid spread can still raise the number of hospitalizations because so many people are getting infected.

"Even though everyone is getting it," Kanter said, "you don't want to get it if you have any choice in the matter."

Recent changes in Centers for Disease Control guidance now recommend that people who received the two-dose Pfizer vaccine get a booster five months after the second does. The previous recommendation was for a six-month wait.

The CDC is now recommending a booster for every eligible person 12 and up, and a third dose for children 5-11 who have weakened immune systems because of cancer, chemotherapy or some other circumstance. Kanter said parents should talk with the child's doctor about the third shot.

Edwards and Kanter urged people to wear masks and use social distancing in public places.