Louisiana Congressman Luke Letlow Dies After Covid-19 Battle
With the COVID-19 vaccine now beginning to make the rounds, people across the world are beginning to have hope that we are getting closer to a return to normalcy. It is, though, going to take some time for the vaccine to reach the masses, with health officials warning that there is still clear and present danger with the pandemic.
Among those affected by COVID-19
Luke Letlow, a Congressman-elect from Louisiana, who has now passed away after battling the virus. While we have seen older people listed as the most at risk, Luke Letlow was just 41 years of age. His passing has once again made it clear that no one is safe from COVID.
Letlow first made political news on December 18 when he took to Facebook to announce that he had tested positive for COVID. Within days of that announcement, which said that he was resting and quarantining at home, he was admitted to St. Francis Hospital in Monroe. A statement released on December 23 said that Letlow had been moved to the intensive care unit at Ochsner LSU Heath Shreveport Academic Medical Center to receive the drug Remdesivir and steroid treatments.
A spokesperson for Letlow announced on Tuesday that the Congressman-elect had indeed passed away on Tuesday, December 29.
What Happens Now in Louisiana?
As the tributes to Letlow poured in from friends, supporters, and colleagues, the political news turned to who might potentially fill his seat. Letlow represented the 5th Congressional District in Louisiana, which he carried in a runoff election, winning 62% of the vote. State law dictates that a special election will be held to pick his replacement in what is a heavily Republican part of Louisiana.
In Louisiana, as well as the rest of the country, the pandemic is worsening, with December already listed as the deadliest month since the arrival of COVID-19. Making matters worse is the fact that a patient in Colorado has been identified as having a new strain of the virus, which is apparently even more contagious, although no more deadly than what we are dealing with at the moment. The vaccine is coming, but there is a long way to go before we are in the clear.
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