Louisiana reported a record 2,726 new coronavirus cases Thursday – a 42 percent increase from Wednesday – as officials warned New Orleans-area hospitals could soon be overwhelmed, according to a report.
Gov. John Bel Edwards called the numbers “jarring” but cautioned that the spike in cases is due to a “logjam” in testing that’s “breaking” and isn’t an accurate representation of the virus’ growth rate in the state, The Advocate reported.
By Thursday evening the state had at least 9,150 cases of the virus and 310 people had died.
Local health officials say separate data shows New Orleans is on track to run out of hospital beds by Easter and ventilators by April 9.
Most of the new cases were from people tested by commercials labs days ago, whose results were delayed.
“We have one of the highest per-capita rates of testing in the country,” Edwards said on a radio show, according to The Advocate, "but these reports are not as smooth and as timely as we’d like them to be.”
The number of hospitalizations also rose by 10 percent Wednesday and by another 10 percent on Thursday, but only by 3.5 percent for those who need ventilators.
Edwards said that most of the people who have tested positive are self-quarantining at home and don't require hospitalization.
Dr. Alex Billioux, assistant secretary for the state Office of Public Health, said, “If there is a place to draw hope here it is that these new data reveal our COVID-19 related hospitalization and death rates, while still concerningly high, are trending more in line with the national average.”
Amid the shortages, the state is also converting the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans into a temporary hospital with 2,000 beds, The Advocate reported.
Edwards on Monday extended the stay-at-home order through April 30.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
