COVID-19 cases slowly increasing in Louisiana
ALEXANDRIA, La. (KALB) - This is something we have not said in a while, but COVID cases are once again starting to rise across the state of Louisiana.
Over the last month, the state has seen a steady increase in cases with over 5,600 positive tests being reported since last week. Health officials say that it is difficult to monitor how many positive cases there are since most people are doing at-home testing, and there is no obligation to report the test.
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Dr. David Holcombe with the Region 6 Office of Public Health said he predicts cases will continue to increase over the next coming months with more events taking place in the summer.
“I don’t think COVID is going anywhere, and the problem with it is that it mutates,” he said. “So, right now we are still dealing with the aftermath of Omicron with its variants and subvariants, but this will go up and has plenty of time and plenty of people to percolate around, and I can almost guarantee you that we will have another variant”
Dr. Holcombe said the population in Central Louisiana is less than 45% fully vaccinated. He believes that the virus will continue to spread and stay around longer if people do not get vaccinated.
“I think we will see a slow and steady increase, which will crescendo sometime in the fall. And, it will go through the summer,” Holcombe added. “Whether it is going to provoke a mask mandate or not, I don’t think people have the stomach for it. You go to events now and you may see two or three masks there, and I encourage people who are sick to still wear them, but you will have a tough job to reinstitute any kind of a mask mandate.”
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