NEW ORLEANS — Louisiana coronavirus hospitalizations surged over the weekend, reaching the highest level seen since late February.
According to the Louisiana Department of Health, there were 711 COVID-19 positive patients hospitalized across the state on Sunday, up 127 since the state's last update on Friday.
Hospitalizations have surged dramatically from the 259 patient count reported on July 1. In Louisiana's bayou and river parishes region, hospitalizations have increased nearly five times in that time span. On the Northshore, COVID-19 hospitalizations have nearly tripled since July 1.
On Monday, the state's health department reported 13 new deaths and 3,985 new cases of the virus - the highest number of new cases reported since Jan. 17, amid the state's last surge of the virus.
The U.S. surgeon general said Sunday that he's concerned about what lies ahead with cases of COVID-19 increasing in every state, millions still unvaccinated and a highly contagious virus variant spreading rapidly.
U.S. cases of COVID-19 last week increased by 17,000 nationwide over a 14-day period for the first time since late fall, and an increase in death historically follows a spike in illness. Much of the worsening problem is being driven by the Delta variant first identified in India, which has since hit the United Kingdom and other countries, said Murthy.
While U.S. case numbers and hospitalizations are still far below levels from the worst of the pandemic early this year, Murthy said the worsening situation shows the need to convince more people to get inoculations.
“It is our fastest, most effective way out of this pandemic,” he said.
About 186 million Americans have received at least one shot, but another 90 million eligible Americans haven't. Officials are trying to overcome a stubborn refusal among some — particularly conservative, rural white people — to get vaccinated, but it's unclear how to do that. So, for the meantime at least, some places have reverted to health precautions that had been cast aside.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.