Louisiana COVID-19 toll tops 10,000

Louisiana passed a grim milestone in the battle against COVID-19 Monday, when the state’s coronavirus death toll passed 10,000.
Monday’s report from the Louisiana Office of Public Health put the number of COVID-related deaths at 9,225 confirmed by molecular testing and another 805 deaths listed as probably related to the coronavirus because of positive antigen tests.
In St. Mary, St. Martin and Assumption parishes, where this newspaper circulates, the number of confirmed COVID deaths is at 245, with another 31 deaths listed as probable.
In all, 3,474 confirmed COVID positives have been reported in St. Mary, 4,334 in St. Martin and 1,553 in Assumption.
Louisiana has lost more people to COVID-19 than the total number of deaths from accidents, chronic lower respiratory disease, stroke and Alzheimer’s combined in 2017, said Dr. Courtney Phillips, secretary of the state Department of Health.
“While the COVID-19 pandemic is not over, in the midst of darkness, there is hope – more than one million people in Louisiana have now started the vaccination process,” Gov. John Bel Edwards said in a press release.
“We are blessed that our scientists and doctors have produced three highly effective and safe vaccines against this illness, and now more than ever, we are called to continue to protect each other and to save lives through wearing masks, keeping distance and getting the vaccine when it is our turn. These vaccines are not just about to getting back to a more normal life and ending the pandemic, they’re also a critical tool in ensuring fewer people die from this illness.”
More than 1.6 million Louisiana people have received at least one vaccine dose, the Office of Public Health said, and more than 600,000 have completed the vaccine series.