COVID deaths in Louisiana increase as spread tops prior surges, state reaches Omicron peak

The omicron variant surge of COVID-19 cases in Louisiana appears to have peaked, but the virus is still spreading faster than in any previous surge, while deaths continue to increase.

New cases of COVID-19 across the state fell for the second week in a row, with this week seeing a 30% decline in the number of new cases confirmed from the week before.

This week’s 31,470 new cases confirmed around Louisiana amounts to an average of 4,496 a day, the state’s lowest rate of case growth since the week of Christmas.

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But that rate of spread is still higher than any point in any of the state’s four previous COVID-19 waves, all of which have been dwarfed by the omicron variant wave this winter. Only the worst week of last summer’s massive delta variant surge comes close, at an average of 4,145 new infections a day around Louisiana.

Still, the virus’ slowing spread has health officials optimistic that the worst of the omicron surge has passed, even as some parts of the state have seen cases peak before others.

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“Peaking is important, but when you’re on the other side of the mountain, you can still be awfully high up off the ground, which is where we are now,” State Health Officer Dr. Joseph Kanter said Thursday.

“We’re going in the right direction. I’m rather confident that the worst of this particular surge is behind us. But cases are going to be really high in Louisiana for the next few weeks. There’s still going to be a lot of transmission.”

COVID Peak: Omicron slowing in some areas, peaking in others as Louisiana's COVID risk remains high

Hospitalizations for COVID-19 have also fallen this week, with 2,088 COVID-positive patients in Louisiana hospitals as of Thursday, down from 2,304 a week ago. Still, Ochsner Health System leadership said this week that improvements in its COVID-19 hospitalizations have been regional, with New Orleans seeing earlier declines than other parts of the state.

While new cases and hospitalizations for COVID-19 have peaked at the state level, deaths from the virus are climbing again at rates that have not been seen in Louisiana since last summer’s delta variant surge.

This week, Louisiana’s Department of Health confirmed 240 COVID-19 deaths, for an average of 34 lives lost to the virus each day. That is an increase from 21 per day last week, and nine per day the week before.

This week marks the state’s highest one-week death toll from COVID-19 since mid-September. Louisiana has confirmed 13,477 COVID-19 deaths during the course of the pandemic so far.

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Though the omicron surge did prompt a short bump in the number of people seeking a COVID-19 vaccine for the first time around Christmas, any bump in vaccinations potentially caused by the current wave has dissipated.

This week saw an anemic 10,315 new COVID-19 vaccinations, the lowest one-week total since late October during the lull in cases between the delta and omicron surges.

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This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Despite omicron peak, Louisiana COVID spread still tops prior surges