Louisiana is grappling with a sharp rise in new COVID-19 cases amid the spread of the Delta variant in the United States, and state's governor is decrying the spike as "avoidable."
Data from Johns Hopkins shows an alarming spike in Louisiana's seven-day rolling average of new COVID-19 cases, as flagged by physician and scientist Eric Topol, who notes the state "now leads the country (per capita)" in its number of cases per 100,000 residents.
On Wednesday, the Louisiana Department of Health reported 5,388 new COVID-19 cases, which was the third-highest daily case count since the beginning of the pandemic, according to 4WWL. Thirteen new deaths were reported.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"Numbers like this are avoidable, and we should be doing better," Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said.
A spokesperson for the governor's office also said, "This is the fourth surge of COVID-19 in Louisiana. To see such a high increase right now, when vaccines are readily available all across Louisiana, is incredibly disheartening."
-
5 museum-grade cartoons about Trump's Smithsonian purgeCartoons Artists take on institutional rebranding, exhibit interpretation, and more
-
Settling the West Bank: a death knell for a Palestine state?In the Spotlight The reality on the ground is that the annexation of the West Bank is all but a done deal
-
Crossword: August 23, 2025The Week's daily crossword puzzle
-
Texas declares end to measles outbreakSpeed Read The vaccine-preventable disease is still spreading in neighboring states, Mexico and Canada
-
RFK Jr. shuts down mRNA vaccine funding at agencySpeed Read The decision canceled or modified 22 projects, primarily for work on vaccines and therapeutics for respiratory viruses
-
Measles cases surge to 33-year highSpeed Read The infection was declared eliminated from the US in 2000 but has seen a resurgence amid vaccine hesitancy
-
Kennedy's vaccine panel signals skepticism, changeSpeed Read RFK Jr.'s new vaccine advisory board intends to make changes to the decades-old US immunization system
-
Kennedy ousts entire CDC vaccine advisory panelspeed read Health Secretary RFK Jr. is a longtime anti-vaccine activist who has criticized the panel of experts
-
RFK Jr. scraps Covid shots for pregnant women, kidsSpeed Read The Health Secretary announced a policy change without informing CDC officials
-
New FDA chiefs limit Covid-19 shots to elderly, sickspeed read The FDA set stricter approval standards for booster shots
-
US overdose deaths plunged 27% last yearspeed read Drug overdose still 'remains the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18-44,' said the CDC
