It’s now Louisiana’s turn to be concerned about Omicron. That’s the latest of the COVID-19 variants that’s now sweeping parts of the globe and has infected individuals in at least nine states, including Louisiana. The Louisiana Department of Health reported late Friday that a person in the Greater New Orleans Area had become infected with the Omicron variant while traveling within the United States. State Health Officer Joe Kanter says the “single best action you can take to protect yourselves” from the virus is to be vaccinated or boosted

Concerns are growing in the state about the possibility of Chronic Wasting Disease infecting white-tailed deer in Louisiana.  This after CWD was found in one of the animals in Union County, Arkansas.

 Cut 6 (06) “..concerning to us.” 

That’s State Veterinarian Jim LaCour with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries who says the agency has issued a ban on baiting and feeding in nearby Morehouse and Union parishes beginning December 6.  CWD is a neurodegenerative disease of white-tailed deer that can prove fatal to the deer and other animals.

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280 workers at Ochsner Health in Louisiana and Mississippi have been fired for not coming into compliance with the firm’s COVID-19 vaccination policy, though 99 percent of additional staff members have. Tulane Health Care Economist, Charles Stoecker, posed this question when asked about the situation.

Cut 12 (08) “…covid to you”  

Most of the 280 people terminated are contract employees who work on an as-needed basis.

Early voting wraps up today in Louisiana for the December 11^th election. The Secretary of State isn’t predicting early voting will create much of a turnout except in certain areas, such as New Orleans and St. Tammany Parish. Incumbent Orleans Parish sheriff Marlin Gusman is facing a progressive Democrat in his runoff for the post. While in St. Tammany, voters are deciding whether to allow a gambling resort to set up shop near Slidell, the project valued at 325-million-dollars. To this date, St. Tammany voters have been against having casino operations in their parish.