Louisiana governor plans New Year's Eve news conference amid virus surge, Letlow's death

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards has scheduled a news conference for Thursday morning after the state on Wednesday reported its highest number of coronavirus cases in a single day since the beginning of the pandemic.

The governor had previously said he wouldn’t hold another news conference unless a "situation arises" to require one, WAFB-TV of Baton Rouge reported.

The news conference also will follow the death of U.S. Rep.-elect Luke Letlow, R-La., a 41-year-old married father of two children who died of a heart attack Tuesday after contracting the virus. Letlow reportedly had no underlying symptoms.

LUKE LETLOW: WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE LATE CONGRESSMAN-ELECT 

"I hope all of the people of Louisiana will join Donna and me in praying for Congressman-elect Letlow’s family, especially his wife Julia and their two children, his many friends and the people of the 5th Congressional District," Edwards said in a statement Tuesday. "Louisiana has lost more than 7,300 people to COVID-19 since March, and each one of them leaves a tremendous hole in our state."

REP.-ELECT LUKE LETLOW DIED FROM HEART ATTACK AFTER PROCEDURE RELATED TO CORONAVIRUS 

In his most recent news conference before Christmas, the governor said the state’s Phase 2 restrictions would stay in place along with a statewide mask mandate until at least Jan. 13.

"While we have seen minor improvements, no one should feel good about our current COVID situation in Louisiana," he said on Dec. 22. "We have too many new cases, too many people in the hospital and, sadly, too many Louisianans continue to die of this illness."

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The Louisiana Department of Health reported 6,752 new cases of the virus Wednesday, much higher than the previous single-day record earlier this month: 4,339 on Dec. 9, according to WAFB.