NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — On Thursday afternoon, Governor Edwards explained that some people are trying to catch COVID-19 on purpose, after hearing that the omicron variant is less severe and not as violent as the others.
But, does this mean you should try and “get it over with?”
“No. People are drawing the wrong lesson from what I said last week. Just because it’s less severe doesn’t mean it can’t be very bad,” warned Governor John Bel Edwards.
“It is not a good strategy to try to get the virus on purpose.”
January 12 proved to be another day of record-high cases. Governor John Bel Edwards is stressing protection in more ways than one.
There were 17,592 single-day cases, which is double the highest single-day cases during the delta surge.
Of the nearly 18,000 cases on January 12, 2,000 are re-infections, meaning people are now getting COVID more than once. Out of the number of those re-infected with the virus, 60 percent of the people are not vaccinated.
Trying to be transparent with their findings, Governor Edwards says the Louisiana Health Department is now recording the number of re-infections and working on a better breakdown.
After a recent news conference, Governor Edwards is clarifying what his lesson is. He says that because omicron is less deadly, it doesn’t mean you should purposely try to catch COVID. It could be detrimental and your symptoms could be severe.
Natural immunity is the wrong lesson to take from what he is saying about the severity of omicron, according to the Governor. The best way to be protected he says is by getting vaccinated, boosted, and wearing masks.
Hospitalizations are also at an alarming rate with 2,081 people are in hospitals and 92 of them being kids.