It wouldn’t be the last time the area saw a holiday-related surge.
Between Halloween on Oct. 31 and Thanksgiving on Nov. 26, cases jumped from 12 to 25 cases.
Two weeks after Thanksgiving, they jumped again to 42.
Within two weeks of Christmas, STHS’s inpatient count hit 62.
And two weeks after New Year’s Day, they were at 66 inpatient cases, which stands as the hospital’s high-water mark – so far.
With each surge, of course, comes an increased strain on hospital services. And, although numbers are once more headed in the right direction – as of Tuesday (Feb. 9), St. Tammany Health System’s COVID inpatient count was at 33 – hospital leaders are bracing for the possibility of another spike in infections in the weeks after Mardi Gras.
If such a spike occurs, they say, they will be ready for it. Still, there’s hope all that preparation will be for naught given that most major Mardi Gras parades have been cancelled and with New Orleans shutting down bars for the extended Carnival weekend.
But that’s up to locals.
“Our advice is simple this Mardi Gras: Celebrate safely,” Dr. Hill said. “Stay home or, if you’re going out to look at house floats, stay in the car with your household group. With vaccine distribution picking up, the light at the end of the tunnel is as bright as ever. Now’s not the time to let down our guard.”
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Find more information about COVID-19 in St. Tammany Parish, including daily case counts and vaccine availability, at StTammany.health/COVID19.