NEW ORLEANS - Nearly 21 months into the mission, the Louisiana National Guard held ceremonies across the state from Nov. 30 to Dec. 3 to honor 800-plus service members for ongoing assistance to citizens during the COVID-19 pandemic. After all that time, Brig. Gen. Cindy H. Haygood, Task Force COVID command, said: “I would never have imagined that we would still be here supporting this mission 20 months later. But with four surges (to a) new variant looming out there, we are still providing necessary support to the entire state.” Ceremonies were in Alexandria, Denham Springs, Hammond and New Orleans for the members of the task force. LNG members packaged 40.7M pounds of food, transported 61.8M pieces of personal protective equipment and more than 94,000 vials of vaccine, administered more than 492,000 COVID tests, and provided more than 179,000 vaccine doses. The service members earned various awards, including Meritorious Service Medals, Army Commendation Medals, Army Achievement Medals, Armed Forces Service Medals, Louisiana Legion of Merits, Louisiana Cross of Merits, and Louisiana Emergency Service Ribbons. Task Force COVID continues to provide daily support across the state, operating as many as 35 testing sites, 25 vaccine sites, and seven food banks. (Source: La. Nat'l Guard 12/07/21)
Mississippi Sidebar: The Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) confirmed the first case of the COVID Omicron variant in state on Dec. 6. The case is in a fully vaccinated individual that had recently traveled to New York. The patient was not hospitalized. 16 other states have reported cases of Omicron: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Washington. (Source: Super Talk Mississippi 12/06/21)
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