Louisiana's coronavirus death toll jumps by 34 overnight
Workers prepare the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center Hall J on Friday, March 27, 2020, in New Orleans after Louisiana state health officials said they are planning to put more than 1,100 beds in the makeshift hospital for patients with the coronavirus. (David Grunfeld/The Advocate via AP)
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards looks at a monitor displaying the state's evolving novel coronavirus COVID-19 situation, at the start of a press conference, Friday, March 27, 2020 at the Governor's Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Management in Baton Rouge, La. (Travis Spradling/The Advocate via AP, Pool)
Congregants exit after services at the Life Tabernacle Church in Central, La., Sunday, March 29, 2020. Pastor Tony Spell has defied a shelter-in-place order by Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, due to the new coronavirus pandemic, and continues to hold church services with hundreds of congregants. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Lance Knippers protests outside as congregants arrive for services at the Life Tabernacle Church in Central, La., Sunday, March 29, 2020. Pastor Tony Spell has defied a shelter-in-place order by Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, due to the new coronavirus pandemic, and continues to hold church services with hundreds of congregants. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
A congregant in a church bus yells out to news media as they leave services at the Life Tabernacle Church in Central, La., Sunday, March 29, 2020. Pastor Tony Spell has defied a shelter-in-place order by Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, due to the new coronavirus pandemic, and continues to hold church services with hundreds of congregants. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — The number of Louisiana residents dead from the COVID-19 disease jumped significantly higher Monday, in one of the state's largest spikes in the death toll since recording its first coronavirus case in early March.
Louisiana's health department reported that 185 residents have died from the disease caused by the virus, an increase of 34 in the death toll from a day earlier. Gov. John Bel Edwards has said Louisiana has the second-highest COVID-19 death rate per capita among states, and he's warned the New Orleans region is running low on ventilators the hardest-hit patients need.
Two-thirds of the people who have died lived in New Orleans and neighboring Jefferson Parish, according to the figures.
More than 4,000 people statewide are confirmed to have the virus, according to the health department data, which shows people have tested positive in all but five rural parishes. But Edwards said public health officials believe the virus is present in every one of Louisiana's 64 parishes.
Although most people recover and many suffer only mild symptoms, COVID-19 can cause serious illness including respiratory problems for some, including the elderly and those with underlying medical conditions. The disease is highly contagious.
Of Louisiana's reported virus cases, 1,158 people are hospitalized — and 385 of those need ventilators to help them breathe, the health department said.
Louisiana, like other states, is desperately searching for additional ventilators, with little success. Edwards said the state has sought 12,000 of the breathing devices, both from the national stockpile and from private vendors, but to date had received only 192 to disperse among hospitals. The New Orleans region, the Democratic governor said, is on track to run out of ventilator capacity by this weekend. Hospitals are trying to find ways to convert other breathing equipment into ventilators and how to share ventilators across multiple patients.
Meanwhile, the state is creating a new 1,100-bed hospital at the convention center in New Orleans, for recovering patients who no longer need ventilators or intensive care. Edwards said the facility will open by April 5.
Edwards issued a statewide “stay at home” order last week that is supposed to end April 13, but he said he could extend that order.
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