BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — Ochsner Health leaders hosted a media briefing on Wednesday to discuss their COVID-19 response and provide new data.
Ochsner Health leaders report 548 COVID-19 patients just Wednesday alone. The numbers:
- 700% increase from a month ago
- 57% increase from a week ago
- 88% hospitalized are unvaccinated individuals
Several hundred Ochsner employees are quarantining.
Forty percent of hospitalizations are individuals 50 years old or younger.
Ochsner Health leaders believe this surge is hitting harder in young people and those who don’t have comorbid illnesses.
The Baton Rouge Ochsner location has a reported 40 individuals hospitalized on Wednesday. In comparison, 30 individuals were hospitalized a week ago.
Ochsner Health leaders are urging the public to get vaccinated despite the misinformation spreading throughout social media. Misinformation about the vaccine has been the biggest roadblock to slowing COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.
COVID-19 cases in children in the local community have been increasing. Children are often being hospitalized not due to Covid but RSV cases.
The Baton Rouge Ochsner location may be putting off some surgeries within the next week.
As for vaccinations, Ochsner Health has seen an uptick in community and employee vaccinations. Up to 62% of employees have gotten vaccinated. Health leaders said this is heading in the right direction but there’s still work to be done.