
Watch Live: Louisiana governor holds news conference on state's fourth COVID-19 surge
CBSN
Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards is holding a news conference on Friday, as the state continues to see rising COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations due to a fourth surge of the virus. The press conference is scheduled for 3 p.m. local time (4 p.m. Eastern).
Across the state on Thursday, 1,620 patients were hospitalized with the virus, CBS affiliate WAFB reports, and 1,625 patients were hospitalized. Health officials say the surge is being spurred by the highly-contagious delta variant. Earlier this week, the governor said 90% of hospitalizations due to COVID-19 complications in the state were unvaccinated patients.
Santa Fe, New Mexico — A representative for the estate of actor Gene Hackman is seeking to block the public release of autopsy and investigative reports, especially photographs and police body-camera video related to the recent deaths of Hackman and wife Betsy Arakawa after their partially mummified bodies were discovered at their New Mexico home in February.

In the past year, over 135 million passengers traveled to the U.S. from other countries. To infectious disease experts, that represents 135 million chances for an outbreak to begin. To identify and stop the next potential pandemic, government disease detectives have been discreetly searching for viral pathogens in wastewater from airplanes. Experts are worried that these efforts may not be enough.