BATON ROUGE - Our Lady of the Lake Hospital in Baton Rouge is one of 45 Louisiana hospitals requesting extra staff during the recent resurgence in COVID-19 cases.

Healthcare workers across the state are being stretched thin as large numbers of COVID-19 patients request care for symptoms. 

On Monday morning, OLOL representatives say they're seeing a new COVID patient every hour. Click here for more on the arrival of the Disaster Medical Assistance Team that's expected to provide OLOL with additional healthcare workers.   

Live from Our Lady of the Lake this morning where representatives tell me that at least 1 COVID patient is being checked in every hour.

Back up is on the way to assist the staff with this overwhelming # of COVID patients.

155 currently hospitalized here alone.#2uneIn @WBRZ pic.twitter.com/PXKrvQVyTa

— Dana DiPiazza (@danawbrz) August 2, 2021

According to the most recent statistics from the Louisiana Department of Health, healthcare workers are responding to a total of 5,313 new COVID-1 cases across the state. 

Governor John Bel Edwards last week said new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would inform his decision on whether or not to issue a statewide mask mandate.

He is expected to relay this information and his decision Monday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. during a news conference. 

Viewers will be able to watch the news conference on WBRZ Channel 2 or WBRZ Plus at that time.