BATON ROUGE - Nearly a dozen children are being treated for the coronavirus at Our Lady of the Lake Children's Hospital, more than half of whom are in intensive care at the medical center. 

On Thursday, the hospital said 11 children were being treated there for the virus. Of those patients, six were being treated in the intensive care unit. Staff says its the most they've seen since the pandemic began last year.

"They're often requiring oxygen and extra pressure to be able to breath effectively," Dr. Trey Dunbar, President of Our Lady of the Lake Children's Health said. "Some of them need breathing tubes, and some of them, even just putting breathing tubes in isn't enough."

"They're often requiring oxygen and extra pressure to be able to breath effectively," Dunbar said. "Some of them need breathing tubes ... [and for] some of them ... putting breathing tubes in isn't enough."https://t.co/DOMc55WNCq

— Johnston von Springer (@johnstonvon) July 30, 2021

Baton Rouge General said Thursday that while its currently treating no children as of Thursday, it treated four patients under the age of 19 in June and treated another 36 throughout July. 

On Wednesday, three of Baton Rouge's major hospitals—including Ochsner, BRG and OLOL—began sharing coronavirus hospitalization data and displaying it on billboards throughout the capital area to raise awareness. 

You can read more on the state's latest COVID data here.