NEW ORLEANS — Louisiana is still reporting thousands of new COVID-19 cases and dozens of deaths linked to the virus, even as the Omicron surge in the state appears to be easing.
On Friday, the Louisiana Department of Health reported 7,201 new cases and 64 new deaths linked to COVID-19. The number of virus hospitalizations fell by 70 patients to 1,821 total hospitalizations on Thursday. Of those patients, about 71 percent were considered not fully vaccinated.
While hospitalizations, the average number of new cases, and the percentage of tests returning positive have all declined in recent weeks, COVID-19 related deaths are still on the rise in Louisiana, reflecting the lag time between when victims become infected and when they succumb.
With the brutal omicron wave rapidly loosening its grip, new cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. are falling in 49 of 50 states, even as the nation's death toll closes in on another bleak round number: 900,000. In total, 15,905 deaths in Louisiana have been linked to COVID-19 since the pandemic began.
The number of lives lost to the pandemic in the U.S. stood at over 897,000 as of midday Friday, with deaths running at an average of more than 2,400 a day, back up to where they were last winter, when the vaccine drive was still getting started.
Overall, new cases in the U.S. have plummeted from a record-obliterating average of more than 800,000 a day in mid-January to about 357,000.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.