Louisiana has “everything” it needs to combat the coronavirus, according to Sen. John Kennedy.
While there have been nationwide shortages of ventilators and personal protective equipment for healthcare workers, Kennedy told Hannity that Louisiana has every tool it needs to fight the virus, despite having one of the nation’s worst coronavirus outbreaks.
“Thanks to President Trump, we have gotten everything we need, including, but not limited to, PPE and ventilators,” Kennedy said. “Of all our ventilators in the state, only about 20% right now are in use. Our numbers are headed in the right direction. We still have to be vigilant.”
Less than two weeks ago, Democratic Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards predicted New Orleans would run out of ventilators by April 4. He changed his prediction last week and claimed that the state would be out of ventilators by Thursday. On Thursday morning, Edwards said the state is no longer concerned about its ventilator supply.
Edwards said the state is “flattening the curve,” adding, “It seems like we’ve been in this fight six months or so, but it’s just been one month.”
While ventilators are no longer a top concern for the state, Kennedy said the next focus needs to be the economy. He explained, “While we save lives, we also have to get started saving livelihoods.”
“I’m not talking about opening it Monday, but we’ve got to get this economy open,” Kennedy later added. “Government shut it down. We got some bad unemployment numbers today. I wasn’t surprised. This economy has been chewed up, spit out, and stepped on. It looks like a scene from Mad Max. And I think it’ll be temporary, and we’ve got to be smart about how we do it.”
As of Thursday, Louisiana had more than 18,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus with 702 related deaths.
