Officials: Upward trend concerning
Published 6:00 pm Friday, June 12, 2020
Lake Charles is one of the regions Gov. John Bel Edwards and state health officials voiced concern this week over growing cases of COVID-19 and related hospitalizations.
Dr. Lacey Cavanaugh, Region 5 Office of Public Health director, said the trend of an uptick in COVID-19 cases isn’t welcome news. However, it’s too soon to say how substantial the increase will be.
“It’s hard to tell if that (case growth) is due to increased testing or increased disease burden,” Cavanaugh said Thursday. It is not currently a peak, but an upward trend. As more days go by, we hope to better understand the cause.”
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The state Department of Health reported on Thursday there were 684 COVID-19 cases in Calcasieu, with 51 deaths.
The governor said Wednesday he was worried about residents not following recommendations by health officials to protect themselves from getting COVID-19 or spreading it to others. Louisiana is currently in the second phase of reopening, allowing certain businesses to reopen and expanding capacity limits for businesses already open during phase one.
Cavanaugh encouraged residents to continue wearing masks in public, along with social distancing and frequent hand washing.
“I think many people are following the guidance, but there certainly are a number of people who are not following that guidance,” she said.
The chances of having a widely-available COVID-19 vaccine in time for the flu season is relatively low, Cavanaugh said. She added there are “some promising candidates” for vaccines.
“We’re watching and waiting,” Cavanaugh said. “We’re hopeful about the possibility of a vaccine that could protect us, but it’s not anywhere in the near future.”
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Cavanaugh said health officials continue to track the multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children that is thought to be related to COVID-19.
“There are still a lot of questions that we don’t have answers to,” she said.
Cavanaugh encouraged residents to take advantage of the widespread COVID-19 mobile testing sites in the region. The second week of scheduled testing ends today. The schedule for the next two weeks will be posted on the state health department website, ldh.la.gov.
The threat of COVID-19 remains very real, Cavanaugh said.
“I’ve been concerned about COVID since March and will probably continue to be concerned about it,” she said.
Compiled by Paul Hippman / Special to the American Press
