Louisiana saw its coronavirus-related death toll jump more than 40% today, as the state quickly becomes one of the country’s most hard-hit areas.
The death toll rose by 36, to 119, making the state No. 2 in the country in coronavirus deaths per capita, Gov. John Bel Edwards said during a press conference today.
The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases increased by 441, or 19%, over Thursday, to 2,746.
The state is third in the country in cases per capita, Edwards said.
Edwards warned that state officials have “every reason to believe” Louisiana is on its way to seeing an outbreak as severe on a per-capita basis as the one in New York, which is the current epicenter of the virus outbreak in the U.S.
Though the number of cases is growing statewide, the outbreak is concentrated in and around New Orleans. Under current models, hospitals in that area will run out of ventilators by April 2 or 3 without reinforcements, Edwards said.
The state recently requested 12,000 ventilators from the federal government and private companies but has only received 192, Edwards said. Officials expect another shipment of about 100 ventilators next week.
He once again implored residents to stay home and avoid contact with others to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
“The success we will have in slowing the spread will be dependent on individuals all across the state of Louisiana,” Edwards said. “If we’re going to flatten the curve, if we’re going to lessen the burden on our health care system, if we’re going to save lives, we must have full cooperation from all Louisianans and we must have it now, because, quite frankly, we don’t have much longer to wait.”
Louisiana saw the highest rate of virus spread in the world in the first 15 days after the first case was confirmed, according to an analysis prepared for the state health department.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday said he will order all people coming into the state from Louisiana to self-quarantine for 14 days.
DeSantis had already applied similar restrictions on travelers coming from New York.
A Louisiana pastor continues to defy the state’s orders prohibiting gatherings of more than 50 people by holding church services, the latest of which he claimed had over 1,000 attendees.
The Rev. Tony Spell, who claims that congregants at Life Tabernacle Church in the city of Central City, about 15 miles northeast of Baton Rouge, have been cured of cancer and HIV, said that coronavirus is “politically motivated.”
Spell claims that around 1,000 churchgoers, who the church has bused in from five different parishes in Louisiana, have attended his church every Sunday despite state recommendations against mass gatherings. Additional services on Tuesday, he added, attract an additional few hundred churchgoers.
“If they close every door in this city, then I will close my doors,” Spell said. “But you can’t say the retailers are essential but the church is not. That is a persecution of the faith.”
Edwards issued a ban against gatherings of over 50 people, which he then expanded by issuing a statewide stay-at-home order for nonessential workers and businesses.
A recorded livestream of the church’s hourlong services on Sunday shows congregants breaking social distancing guidelines sitting and singing close together.