Louisiana Department of Health confirms rise in COVID-19 cases

SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) - There are 2,237 new COVID-19 cases, including six deaths, listed today on the Louisiana Department of Health’s website.

The Rev. Dr. Robert C. Hudson, pastor of Paradise Baptist Church in Shreveport, is requesting people to consider going to get their vaccinations before returning to church.

“As people were coming back, I did request that they be vaccinated. You don’t tell people they’ve got to get it,” the Rev. Dr. Hudson said. “Every so often from the pulpit I remind them that if they have not been, they need to consider getting vaccinated and boostered.”

In the Rev. Dr. Hudson’s church, seating is not restricted but there are seats that are six feet apart for people who are taking extra precautions. And all communion, tithes and offerings are done before parishioners take their seats.

“At the end, then everybody already has their cup in place and so we don’t have a time where we stop the flow of worship and people start marching around,” the Rev. Dr. Hudson said.

The church also recommends that everyone still use masks.

“I think continuing to mask is really important because really COVID is still around. We may not talk about it alone, but COVID is still here,” said Tara Daniel, a Paradise Baptist choir member.

Daniel said she has had COVID-19 despite taking precautions, but still chooses to follow protocol and so do her children; she chose to get vaccinated.

“I think it’s very important getting awareness to people that, how important it is to get the vaccination so, and hopefully, so one day we can all come back together as a whole and not just you know part of us staying at home watching it on TV,” Daniel continued.

Many parishes are considered high risk; as of July 1, Caddo had nearly 4,600 reinfections since the beginning of the pandemic.

Karlos Ferbos is among church members who have not caught the virus, “Even though I haven’t personally received COVID yet, I still take all the necessary precautions to still stay safe because the age range in here, as you can see, dwells from young to old.”

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