Covid hospitalizations surge in US south as unvaccinated urged to get shots

• Louisiana now leads the nation in new Covid cases

• Intensive care units near capacity in multiple locations

Covid-19 hospitalizations continued to surge among America's deep south states on Monday as health officials urge unvaccinated residents to receive the shot and intensive care units near capacity in multiple locations, prompting fears of a surge close to the numbers of last winter.

Louisiana now leads the nation in new Covid cases as the Delta variant rips through a region with some of the lowest vaccination rates in the US. Last Friday, the Louisiana department of health announced a daily increase of 6,116 positive Covid cases, with 2,421 people now hospitalized with the virus, including 277 on ventilators. With just 37% of residents fully vaccinated, state data indicated that unvaccinated people accounted for 90% of hospitalizations in the state. One hundred and eighty one people died from the virus in Louisiana last week.