BATON ROUGE, La. — Six expectant mothers and 10 unborn children have died from COVID-19-related issues in the past 10 weeks, according to the Louisiana Department of Health.
There were 14 cases of COVID that resulted in the 16 deaths since mid-July and the LDH said that in all of the cases the mothers were not vaccinated.
“More COVID-19-related maternal and fetal deaths have been reported during the Delta surge than the total number of COVID-19 severe pregnancy outcomes reported during the previous 15 months of the pandemic in Louisiana. It’s a tragic reminder of the vulnerability of pregnant individuals and their children to this highly contagious illness,” said State Health Officer Dr. Joseph Kanter.
The Department of Health said that pregnant women are at increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19. The LDH and the CDC recommend that all people, including pregnant women, receive the COVID-19 vaccination.
The fourth surge of the COVID-19 has basically coincided with the delta variant becoming the dominant variant, which has proven to be more transmissible.
The number of hospitalizations from COVID has dropped in Louisiana in recent weeks, from a high near 2,800 to under 1,000 as of Monday’s report.
Tuesday's numbers showed hospitalizations around the state at 989 and there were 54 new deaths reported.
Governor John Bel Edwards will have a press conference Tuesday to announce whether he will extend his mask mandate, which is set to expire Wednesday.