Good News: Louisiana Only Needs 1000 Ventilators!!!

April 7, 20204 years ago Johnna Crider 0 Comments

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Earlier this afternoon, Governor John Bel Edwards briefed our state in his daily update and said that our state does not need 14,000 ventilators anymore. This is due to several factors, including the fact that our healthcare workers are doing all they can and the majority of people are now staying home. The goal of our healthcare workers is to try to avoid putting patients on ventilators — not to put them on ventilators. There have been 16,284 cases reported in Louisiana, 582 deaths, and 1,996 people in the hospitals from COVID-19. Of those, 519 are on ventilators as of right now.

https://twitter.com/differmint/status/1247613859445256192

Governor Edwards said today in his press briefing that we are seeing fewer people on ventilators because of our healthcare professionals being able to treat more people effectively and get them off ventilators sooner. Our state is also increasing ventilator stock, and as far as I know from what friends in healthcare have told me, a few hospitals still need them, but things are not as dire here as they were last week. I hope it stays that way. Governor Edwards said that our state will scale back the current order to about 1,000.

Louisiana continues to increase ventilator stock but not nearly as many. 753 received since #coronavirus started. Had ordered 14,000 — JBE said state will scale back order to about 1,000 because need has lessened. #lalege #lagov

— Elizabeth Crisp 🦩 (@elizabethcrisp) April 7, 2020

However, we are not out of the woods yet. The reason why is that people, like those churchgoers in Central, may choose to risk their lives and throw parties. There’s also been some alarming news as well among those who are African-American and have been infected with the coronavirus. Yesterday, Governor Edwards said that 70% of those who have died from coronavirus in Louisiana are African-Americans, even though they only make up 35% of our state’s populations. Other cities such as Chicago and Milwaukee have similar death rates among the African-American community.

⚠️African Americans appear to be dying from #coronavirus at a disproportionally high rate.

▶️Chicago: 30% black, 70% #COVID19 deaths
▶️Milwaukee: 27% black, 81% deaths

Similar trends in Philadelphia, Detroit, Louisiana & elsewhere.#CoronavirusPandemic https://t.co/FDJkAxN09E

— Dena Grayson, MD, PhD (@DrDenaGrayson) April 7, 2020

Our state, like many others, still needs help, though. We need masks and other PPE equipment for our healthcare workers. Our number one best way of helping is to stay home. No parties, no social gatherings of any kind. And while we are home, we can help those who are on the frontlines by donating funds or even time. There are many charities and organizations out there that need our help. I’m donating what I can, and I encourage you to do so, also.

We can also support our local businesses that are still open — especially if they provide delivery services. I may not be Elon Musk, who was kind enough to promise me that he would help our state as soon as he could. I am just one person. But the point is that if everyone who was “just one person” did something small, we would make a large impact on our communities nationwide.

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