LDH News

Due to adverse winter weather conditions, COVID-19 testing sites operated by the Louisiana Army National Guard (LANG) are closed today in all regions except Region 1 (Greater New Orleans).

The Louisiana Department of Health is confirming the storm-related death of a 50-year-old Lafayette Parish who died after slipping on ice and hitting his head on the ground. The coroner has confirmed this death as storm related. It is the first death related to the February 2021 Winter Storm. Louisiana is experiencing extreme winter weather that may cause widespread power outages. Because of these outages, many people will turn to individual, gas-powered generators to power their homes.

This week, 508 vaccine providers across the state will receive very limited doses of COVID vaccine. These providers - including 168 chain pharmacies, 144 independent pharmacies, 55 hospitals, 45 public health providers, 26 medical practices, 21 federally qualified health centers (FQHCs), 19 urgent cares, 12 community events, 10 rural health clinics (RHCs), and 8 other healthcare providers - represent all nine public health regions and 64 parishes of the state.

All sites will be closed on Monday and Tuesday in anticipation of severe winter weather. Testing will resume as scheduled on Wednesday.

To authorize certain medical professionals to administer the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines by protocol in lieu of a patient-specific order from a physician or prescribing practitioner.

These providers - including 112 chain pharmacies, 127 independent pharmacies, 52 hospitals, 15 community health centers (including 13 federally qualified health centers, or FQHCs), 6 rural health clinics (RHCs), 28 public health providers and 38 other healthcare sites - represent all nine public health regions and 64 parishes of the state.

The more contagious U.K. variant of COVID-19 has been identified in Louisiana, and all Louisianans need to take precautions to protect themselves and their loved ones. Avoid gatherings of individuals not part of your households, work from home remotely when possible, wear a mask, practice social distancing and good hand hygiene, and stay home if sick. If you have been exposed or have symptoms of COVID-19, get tested.

Some Unified Command Group members, state COVID emergency response personnel, local emergency response personnel, law enforcement, first responders and elections workers for the upcoming March and April elections will also be eligible.

The Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) has confirmed 2 additional cases of the COVID-19 variant, SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7, in Southwest Louisiana. This brings the state's total number of confirmed cases of the B.1.1.7 variant to 5 -- 2 identified in Region 1 (Greater New Orleans) and 3 identified in Region 5 (Southwest Louisiana).

Should one or more of Louisiana's parishes/regions become overwhelmed with the number of human remains that require temporary refrigerated storage, Louisiana Department of Health (LDH), Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP) and other state agencies may have to establish a temporary storage site(s). Contractor will be required to provide personnel and equipment to retrieve /return bodies from hospitals, coroners' offices or other sites that are designated by LDH.