Coronavirus

After driving record-high COVID-19 infections in Louisiana and across the country, state health officials said Thursday that the omicron surge has peaked in Louisiana as a whole, but warned that cases are still rising in some regions of the state.

Public health officials are urging many fully vaccinated people in Louisiana to get a booster shot in the wake of new recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released Thursday.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards and top state public health officials rolled up their sleeves to receive the COVID-19 booster shots and the flu vaccine Wednesday to increase vaccination rates ahead of what could be a severe flu season.

Due to the current surge of cases of the delta variant of COVID-19, Louisiana is dangerously low on intensive care unit beds, according to the latest data on COVID-19 from the state's health department.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards announced Friday that he is “seriously considering” a statewide mask mandate for all Louisianans to curb transmission of the coronavirus as the state sees the highest rate of case growth in the country.

Edwards announced Tuesday that he is extending his statewide public health emergency but lifting nearly all of his remaining coronavirus restrictions, including a statewide mask mandate in Louisiana classrooms.

Thousands of children have received one shot of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, one week after the state opened up vaccinations to kids aged 12 to 15.

The mask requirements are largely off in New Orleans and the rest of Louisiana, but the COVID-19 threat is by no means over. Instead, the calculations for personal risk have only become more complex.

That's seven in all. Two were reported in the New Orleans area and Southwest Louisiana last week.

Health officials confirmed two cases — one in metro New Orleans and one in Southwest Louisiana.