COVID SURGE CROWDS HOSPITALS — Dr. Joseph Kanter who heads the Louisiana Department of Health says the peak of the state's latest coronavirus surge may be weeks away which could be a “catastrophic scenario” for hospitals already overrun with COVID-19 patients. During a conference call updating the Louisiana Board of Regents, he shared a story about hospitals having to turn away people with other life-threatening emergencies.
" . . . this patient had to bypass six hospitals to get to us with an acute massive heart attack," Dr. Joseph Kanter, Medical Director for Louisiana Department of Health
"I'm an ER doctor in off-times, I worked this past weekend in New Orleans and we accepted a transfer of an acute heart-attack patient and this patient had to bypass six hospitals to get to us with an acute massive heart attack," Kanter explained.
Officials around the state have been raising similar alarms, urging people to get vaccinated and wear masks in public places. More than 6,000 new statewide Covid infections were reported Tuesday, with 93 more related deaths. Hospitalizations set another daily record at 2,859.
