NEW ORLEANS — The coronavirus death toll mounted here Friday, with statistics showing COVID-19 falling most heavily on the elderly with 45% of the dead 80 or older.
The average age of people dying from the virus was nearly 70 as of noon Friday according to a review by The Washington Times. Louisiana has recorded 119 deaths and 2,746 cases — 4% death rate — in the outbreak that started in Wuhan, China, last year.
Of the deaths, 54 people were 80 or older, according to the Louisiana Department of Health. The department does not provide any indication of any underlying health issues that may have complicated the picture for the patients.
In a grim press conference Thursday, Gov. John Bel Edwards highlighted how the state has become an epicenter of the virus and warned repeatedly that if residents did not practice virus avoidance by generally staying at home and “social distancing” when they must go out, then Louisiana would find itself out of ventilators and hospital beds by early April.
Mr. Edwards also cited the case of a 17-year-old felled by coronavirus, but the health department figures show his death was an anomaly. Four people under the age of 40 have reportedly died from coronavirus in Louisiana, and the teenager in New Orleans is the only person under the age of 35, according to the health department.
Mr. Edwards has urged residents to abide by the shelter-in-place orders he issued March 22 and stressed coronavirus remains an equal opportunity virus that can strike anyone, sometimes lethally.
The number of patients hospitalized as of noon Friday was 773, with 270, or 35%, requiring ventilation, according to the health department. Both of those figures increased 8% from the previous day.
Louisiana’s rate of infection slowed in the last 24 hours and experts are hoping for the curve to flatten. With 441 news cases identified in the past 24 hours, that puts Louisiana’s daily increase at 16%. The day before, Louisiana’s positive cases jumped by 22%.
Should hospitalizations and those needing ventilators surpass Louisiana’s “surge capacity,” Mr. Edwards said the New Orleans convention center, Veterans Administration hospital and perhaps other spots would be converted to public hospital space in wings of 120 beds.
New Orleans, which celebrated Mardi Gras on Feb. 25, and adjoining Jefferson Parish remain the worst hit areas of the state. The state Department of Health also cited clusters of coronavirus found in eight assisted living facilities or nursing homes.
• James Varney can be reached at jvarney@washingtontimes.com.
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