Another child has been reported dead from COVID-19 in Louisiana on Monday, the second confirmed fatality in just a handful of days, even as the highly transmissible fourth surge begins to slow.
The child was between the ages of 12 and 17, a release from the Louisiana Department of Health said. On Friday, the state reported that a child between the ages of 0 and 4 had died.
The fourth surge of COVID-19 — driven by low vaccination rates and the delta variant — has now killed nine children in just three months, half the total number killed over the course of the entire pandemic.
We sadly also report 39 COVID deaths reported to the state since Friday, including the death of a child between the ages of 12 and 17, bringing our death toll to 14,027. No further information will be released about this death.
— Louisiana Department of Health (@LADeptHealth) October 4, 2021
"Since mid-July, we have mourned the loss of a child to COVID nine times. They say it takes a village to raise a child, but that village also has the responsibility of protecting its children,” said Dr. Joseph Kanter, the state health officer. “Masks and vaccines are the protection we have available to us, and we all must do our part."
The state has released few details about the children killed by COVID-19, but among those killed in the fourth surge are an infant under the age of 1 and a high school football player.
According to Monday's coronavirus data, health officials reported 1,725 new cases, 715 hospitalizations and 39 new deaths. More than 2.4 million residents have received one dose of the vaccine, and the number of residents who have either received both doses of Pfizer or Moderna or the only dose of Johnson & Johnson is more than 2.1 million.
For more COVID-19 data, visit the LDH dashboard.
Copyright 2021 WWNO - New Orleans Public Radio. To see more, visit WWNO - New Orleans Public Radio.