Parish President Mike Cooper brought out all the heavy hitters from the local medical community at a press conference Wednesday afternoon.
The tone of those who spoke was definitely more urgent as they spoke about the number of COVID patients they are treating and the current surge they are dealing with.
Among those in attendance were St. Tammany Parish Coroner Dr. Charles Preston; Dr. Michael Hill, VP of Infection Prevention and Quality at St. Tammany Health System; Dr. Timothy Riddell, Regional Medical Director, Ochsner Northshore; Holly Sanchez, Chief Operating Officer at Slidell Memorial Hospital; DA Warren Montgomery and others.
Everyone who stepped up to the microphone sounded the alarm about hospitalizations and the rising number of COVID cases.
The parish has seen spike in COVID-related hospitalizations since July 1, when only 42 people were hospitalized with COVID in St. Tammany hospitals. The number has since surged to 414.
The doctors said most of the people recently hospitalized from COVID-19 locally were not vaccinated.
As of Wednesday, August 4, St. Tammany Parish is under an indoors mask mandate for anyone over five years old. Cooper said further limitations are not off the table, if the health of the community continues to decrease.
The doctors also said their medical facilities, including emergency rooms, remain open, and if citizens needed medical care outside of COVID they would do their best to provide it.
Cooper said 49% of St. Tammany residents have gotten at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, as of Monday.
The entire press conference can be watched online at www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=4562583373764578&ref=watch_permalink.
