COVID-19 Cases On the Rise

As a record-setting fourth COVID-19 surge once again threatens to cripple a nation, the virus appears to have Louisiana in its crosshairs.

Daily cases have been rising by the thousands, hospitalizations have put a strain on the state’s health system and available beds and ventilators are dwindling to dangerous levels.

As of Aug. 6, nearly 2,500 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized and 277 on ventilators.

Fatigued and in some cases reduced medical staffs are being stretched, including at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge, where a Disaster Medical Assistance Team from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services arrived Aug. 2 to provide additional support.
“I will tell you there is a lot of stress,” said Dr. Steven Gremillion, chief medical officer at OLOL. “You can’t help be in that situation and not have some degree of burnout because of the nature of the illness and the stress it provides.”

OLOL currently has about 150 COVID-19 patients, the most since the pandemic started, causing the hospital to put a three-week pause scheduling new, non-urgent surgical procedures requiring an inpatient bed. Outpatient procedures not requiring an overnight stay were scheduled to go on as planned.

“Like many hospitals across the state, Our Lady of the Lake continues to experience high volumes of COVID and non-COVID patients. Our inpatient facilities remain at capacity,” said Stephanie Manson, chief operating officer at Our Lady of the Lake. “We made this decision to make additional beds and staff available.” 

The rise in numbers and those residual effects are of great concern to Gremillion. But those numbers are also startling in what they reveal.

Gremillion said 95% of the COVID-19 patients at OLOL are unvaccinated and every coronavirus patient less than 65 years old is unvaccinated, numbers that align with national averages.

In early July, it was reported that of the 159 million fully vaccinated people at that time in the United States, about 5,500 were hospitalized with COVID-19, or .0034%.

“This is a problem of the unvaccinated, without question,” Gremillion emphatically stated. “There should be no confusion to that fact.

“The only people fully vaccinated (patients) we find (at OLOL) are elderly, over the age of 80, or people with pre-existing conditions like dialysis.”

He said those vaccinated still can get the disease but the chances of requiring a hospital stay is unlikely.

“Some (vaccinated) people get symptoms, some don’t,” he said. “For the most part the symptoms are very mild. 

“It is possible to get the disease and not even know you have it.”

Gremillion said he has not seen one vaccinated person who contracts the virus die, and although allergic reactions are possible, they are “very rare.”

“The unvaccinated don’t have the antibodies to fight off the virus and so not only can they get sick they are more likely to spread it,” he added. “There is no doubt there is a relationship between being unvaccinated and being more sick and more likely to spread that disease.”

In response to the preponderance of evidence of the vaccine’s effectiveness, OLOL announced in early August a vaccination mandate for all team members, employed providers, residents, students in clinical rotations, contract staff and volunteers. Implementation of the requirement will occur during the next several months, concluding in December.

“We have listened to our team members and physicians as well as tracked the rapid progress of this fourth surge to reach this decision,” said Dr. Richard Vath, President and CEO of the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System. “Throughout the pandemic, our teams have risen to the calling to care for those who need them. We continue that now but already we are straining to meet the demand. 

“As a healthcare leader we believe we must take this step now for everyone’s safety and long-term community well-being.”

The latest surge of COVID-19 has been linked to the delta variant, which is considerably more contagious than the original strain. Gremillion explained that each virus carries an “R value,” referring to how many people an individual can infect at one time.

The original ratio ranged from 1/2 to 1/3, but the delta variant has a range of 1/7 to 1/9, Gremillion said.

“With every one person getting it, they are spreading it from seven to nine people,” he said. “We want an R value of less than one.”

One other peculiarity is the delta variant appears to be more severe, especially among the young.

“There is a lot of research going on but we don’t know why the delta variant is more deadly and contagious,” he said. “There is evidence in the data.”

Gremillion emphasized the Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are also effective against the delta variant.

“It is a relief except for the fact that in Louisiana 40% of the people are vaccinated,” he said. “A lot of people are unvaccinated.”

Gremillion said the free will of individuals should be respected regarding their decisions about the vaccine but added there is nothing wrong in encouraging vaccinations, knowing that if people are not vaccinated hundreds of thousands of people are doing to die and the majority of those people are likely going to be the underserved, the less fortunate and the poor. 

Gremilion said he has heard many “crazy theories” from vaccine opponents, including the government is using the vaccine to insert a chip in the arm of each citizen for tracking purposes, a theory he quickly debunked.

He stated the vaccine does not cause sterility and the OBGYN and pediatric communities are recommending their patients receive the vaccine. 

“Remember (the vaccine) is not a live virus and it doesn’t change your DNA,” Gremillion said. 

Perhaps the greatest tragedy, he said, is the devastating consequences of the delta variant “absolutely could have been avoided.”

“”We would have not had a full hospital if we got up our vaccination rates in our state to 70 to 80 percent,” he said. “To be honest, I think it’s going to affect the things we enjoy in the next few months. I am concerned about football season. 

“I realize Tiger Stadium is outside but when you have 100,000 people gathering together, I think it is a setup for a super spreader event.”

“What are we doing to do with masking?” he asked. “All of those things come under a little more of a magnifying glass when you get into a situation when you have a pandemic.”

Gov. John Bel Edwards recently issued an indoor mask mandate throughout the state, leaving many fall events  in limbo.

“We must act now to protect each other from spreading the delta variant and protect vulnerable patients from exposure,” Vath said. “Vaccines are the best means of accomplishing this and more important than ever as the lasting step to end this pandemic.”