Louisiana governor says state will reach ventilator capacity this week

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) said Sunday that his state will have more critical patients than available ventilators or ICU beds this week, based on current modeling. 

Edwards said on CNN’s “State of the Union” that current estimates show the state will reach its ventilator capacity on April 9 and reach its capacity for ICU beds a few days later. 

{mosads}“This is a tough emergency, and it is not different here than elsewhere,” he said, adding that the issue may be “a little more acute” in his state. 

The governor also urged the public to follow his stay-at-home order and social distancing guidelines in order to help mitigate the spread of the virus and keep hospitals from reaching their capacity. 

Asked about President Trump’s comments Friday that CEO’s of two of the largest Louisiana hospitals said they have enough ventilators for their capacity, Edwards said he believes the CEO’s were discussing their “current capacity.” 

“I don’t have any problem with what the CEOs are saying, but as we look out into the future we will exceed our ventilator capacity at some point,” the governor said. 

He added that Louisiana was sent 200 additional ventilators from the national stockpile, which the state received Saturday.

The number of coronavirus cases in Louisiana is growing fast, seeing daily spikes of 30 or 40 percent several times last week. New Orleans in particular has been mentioned by White House coronavirus task force officials as a potential next “hot spot” for the virus. 

As of Saturday, Louisiana had almost 12,500 cases and more than 400 deaths.