New Orleans May Run Out of Ventilators in a Week: Louisiana Governor

New Orleans Gov. John Bel Edwards, seen in a file photograph, is warning of a projected shortfall in ventilators. (Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)

New Orleans is projected to run out of ventilators in one week, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said over the weekend.

“We believe that by about April 4 or so in the New Orleans area, we will exceed our capacity for ventilators,” Edwards said during an appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday. “And, obviously that’s not where we want to be.”

“We’re doing everything that we can to try to find ventilators but it is a big challenge right now,” he added. Ventilator capacity “is the one thing that really keeps me up at night.”

Edwards told reporters on Thursday that New Orleans could run out of ventilators as early as April 2 and run out of hospital beds by April 7.

“It’s not conjecture, it’s not some flimsy theory, this is not a scare tactic, this is what is going to happen,” he said.

Emergency medicine physician Thomas Krajewski arrives at work for the start of his shift amid an outbreak of the CCP virus in New Orleans, Louisiana, on March 27, 2020. (Kathleen Flynn/Reuters)

An empty street in the French Quarter amid the COVID-19 pandemic in New Orleans, Louisiana, on March 27, 2020. Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Of the 3,540 confirmed CCP virus cases in the state, 1,127 patients are in hospitals, according to the state Department of Health. Three hundred and 80 patients are on ventilators.

The New Orleans area has 650 ventilators, the Lafayette Daily Advertiser reported, while the state as a whole has 2,750, citing state data.

“At this point we do have ventilators available, a fair amount. It is likely we’ll need more, but I’m not sure at this point,” Lafayette Consolidated Government spokesman Jamie Angelle told the Advertiser.

Louisiana has been able to procure 192 ventilators, none of which have come from the federal government, according to Edwards. The state has requested 12,000 from the government and private companies. President Donald Trump told reporters last week that some ventilators were shipped to Louisiana.

The projected dearth of ventilators has prompted state officials to explore using a single ventilator for two patients, a method New York’s Department of Health approved last week.