NEW ORLEANS (AP) — New Orleans, where hundreds of people are known to have been infected by the coronavirus and more than 40 have died, was gearing up Thursday for a possible overflow at area hospitals, with plans to treat as many as 3,000 patients at the city’s convention center.
The Morial Convention Center will be used for patients who no longer need ventilators to breathe, Mayor LaToya Cantrell said during a news conference Wednesday evening.
While hospitals were scrambling to reallocate personnel and seek more health care workers in anticipation of more cases, city officials said they are prepared to bring in workers from other areas to deal with those treated at the Morial Convention Center.
“We have access to up to 35,000 health care professionals from across the country that will come here,” said Collin Arnold, the city’s director of homeland security.
The number of known virus cases in the state rose to more than 2,300 as of midday Thursday, up by more than 500 from the day before. With testing becoming more widely available in the state, the number of cases is expected to rise. Eighty-three state residents have died, according to the health department.
Business shutdowns because of state and local mandates and “stay-at-home” orders began showing up economic statistics Thursday. More than 72,600 people in Louisiana filed new unemployment claims last week, compared with nearly 2,300 a week earlier, according to data released by the U.S. Department of Labor.
Although most people recover and many suffer only mild symptoms, COVID-19 — the disease caused by the virus — can cause serious illness including respiratory problems for some, including the elderly and those with underlying medical conditions.
There is also a growing need for protective masks and clothing to keep health care workers from getting the disease and life-saving ventilators for patients. The state health department said 271 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized Tuesday and 94 of them required ventilation. By Wednesday, 491 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized. Of those, 163 patients — still roughly one-third — required ventilation.
Even with expected shipments of 300 ventilators to the New Orleans region over the next week, the area will remain an estimated 600 short of what’s needed, Gov. John Bel Edwards said Wednesday. Hospitals are considering ways to retrofit existing breathing devices.
Louisiana has the third-highest rate of confirmed virus cases per capita, Edwards said Wednesday. He warned that the state could run out of ventilators for patients in the New Orleans area, where the majority of Louisiana’s known cases are, in the first week of April.
Edwards issued a stay-at-home order for the state, effective Monday evening. Businesses deemed nonessential were ordered to shut down and crowds of more than 10 were banned. But WAFB TV reported that Life Tabernacle Church in Central, near Baton Rouge, continues to defiantly hold Sunday services, sometimes drawing hundreds. The latest was Tuesday night and some neighbors were upset.
“I’m 73 years old. Every time any one of those 1,300 or 300, depending on which day of the week they hold services, leave there and go anywhere else in the city of Central, they’re exposing elderly guys like myself,” Central resident Larry Gregoire told the TV station.
The state was expected to identify six nursing homes where “clusters” of coronavirus have been identified Thursday. At the Lambeth House retirement home in New Orleans, where 42 residents have been infected and 11 have died, a spokesman said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been working on site and remotely to help deal with the outbreak. Greg Beuerman said 10 of the infected are now virus-free and out of isolation.
Also Thursday, New Orleans Saints Quarterback Drew Brees announced on social media that he was committing $5 million to an effort to serve meals statewide to children, the elderly and others in need during the crisis.
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Deslatte reported from Baton Rouge. Associated Press reporter Kevin McGill contributed to this story from New Orleans.
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Follow AP coverage of the virus outbreak at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
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