Louisiana hospital bed shortage as COVID-19 surge worsens

by: The Associated Press, MELINDA DESLATTE and KEVIN McGILL

Posted: Jan 8, 2021 / 09:13 PM CST / Updated: Jan 8, 2021 / 09:13 PM CST

Pharmacy director Heather Maturin unpacks vials of the first doses of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in a refrigerator at Ochsner Hospital on O’Neal Lane, Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020, in Baton Rouge, La. (Bill Feig/The Advocate via AP, Pool)

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Hospital leaders are warning they are running dangerously short of beds because of the influx of COVID-19 patients.

The situation is only expected to worsen because of the holidays. And it comes as a slow distribution of the coronavirus vaccine rolls out across Louisiana.

Gov. John Bel Edwards on Wednesday described state efforts to improve the pace of vaccinations. But he and public health officials noted nothing would happen quickly enough to combat the state’s coronavirus outbreak except the precautionary measures they’ve been preaching for months.

New Orleans announced tougher coronavirus restrictions Wednesday.

Pharmacy director Heather Maturin unpacks vials of the first doses of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in a refrigerator at Ochsner Hospital on O’Neal Lane, Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020, in Baton Rouge, La. (Bill Feig/The Advocate via AP, Pool)
Nurse Meshoca Williams measures out a doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for inoculation at Ochsner Hospital on O’Neal Lane, Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020, in Baton Rouge, La. (Bill Feig/The Advocate via AP, Pool)
Poydras Home resident Martha Treen gets the Moderna vaccine from CVS pharmacist Catherine Ramzy at the home on Magazine Street in New Orleans, Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2020. Mrs. Treen was hospitalized for several months with COVID-19. Her husband was John Treen, who ran against David Duke. The two were hospitalized in the same room and he died in April. (David Grunfeld/The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate via AP)