![]() ![]() Laura Gaar administers a Covid vaccination to a 14 year old on 10 August. Many people in the area have held off on getting the vaccine because they wanted to make sure it was safe and effective, said Dr Kelly Fuqua, a family physician at the hospital. In south-west Louisiana, that number drops to 29%, according to Louisiana Department of Health data. Just 39% of the state is fully vaccinated, which lags way behind the national picture: 62% of the US adult population is fully vaccinated. “Our situation feels bleak at times, but we never lose hope,” she said with tears in her eyes. A doctor shot from the room to care for a Covid patient in distress. As she spoke, an alarm sounded over the hospital’s speakers. “Our team – like all the other teams in this area – are tired,” she said. ![]() Responding to the pandemic while rebuilding their homes is exhausting medical staff, said Robbin Odom, the hospital’s chief nursing officer. “We need our community to know this is real and it impacts everyone.” “Today, we are sounding the alarm to let our community know that this Covid-19 surge has reached a critical level,” Fruge said Thursday. Ambulances are also delayed because patients are waiting on stretchers until there’s an available bed. With neighboring hospitals at capacity, transferring patients is difficult. There are no available ICU beds left at West Calcasieu Cameron hospital and Covid patients are being held in the emergency department for extended periods of time while they wait for beds to free up, the hospital’s CEO, Janie Fruge, said at a news conference.Ĭovid patients are taking up nearly 70% of beds in the hospital, she said. Vaccinations in the area have recently increased, but still lag behind the rest of the state. Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty ImagesĪbout 10 miles (16 km) west of Lake Charles, hospital staff in Sulphur pleaded with the community to get vaccinated. Healthcare workers intubate a Covid patient at Lake Charles Memorial Hospital in Louisiana on 10 August as the state sees record cases. About 90% of those who are hospitalized with coronavirus have not been fully vaccinated, according to Louisiana department of health data. The rate of new infections is higher than anywhere else in the US, except Mississippi. Hospitals across the state are filled with Covid patients. Responding to the fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic has been especially difficult here in south-west Louisiana, where venues for testing, vaccinations and treatment are limited by the amount of buildings still in need of repair. “It’s the human toll that it takes on people that really makes this a whole new level of challenging.” The patched ceilings and boarded up windows are constant reminders of what the community has been through, and how far they have to go. That worries Dr Lacey Cavanaugh, the region’s medical director. Students went back to class this month in schools still in need of permanent repairs. Louisiana hospitals, overwhelmed with Covid patients, sending ambulances to Texas A freeze this February followed by torrential rain in May destroyed more homes. Hurricane Laura – which made landfall as a Category 4 storm in August 2020 – dealt the first blow. The same can be said for people in the community, who have withstood four federally declared disasters in less than a year. The agency attempts to conduct business as usual, despite missing pieces. The roof is leaking in one room and blue painter’s tape marks the walls that are still holding water. About a foot of drywall is cut out near the floor in parts of the regional health department building in the city of Lake Charles, south-west Louisiana. ![]()
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