The Louisiana Department of Health reported on Monday 42 additional deaths blamed on COVID-19, which pushed the total number of deaths to 10,030 since the pandemic began.
“Today is a grim milestone for our state as more than 10,000 Louisianans have now died from COVID-19, marking a year of sadness and loss, as so many families and friends are missing their loved ones. We must pray for them and their families and do everything we can to prevent the spread of this terrible illness,” Gov. John Bel Edwards said.
Edwards also noted there is a sign of hope with over a million doses of coronavirus vaccines administered in the state so far.
LDH reported that 105,877 additional doses were administered since last week for a total of 1,622,640 with 611,494 out of 1,055,911 vaccine series now completed.
"The COVID vaccines are our exit ramp from this pandemic and I could not be more encouraged by the tremendous work already undertaken," said Dr. Joseph Kanter, State Health Officer. "I am looking forward to even more Louisianans having the opportunity to get vaccinated in the near future."
The group of eligible recipients to receive a COVID vaccine as Phase 1B, Tier 1 continued grew on Monday to include even more classes of workers.
LDH also reported 1,334 additional coronavirus cases on Monday. The total number of reported cases stood at 441,066.