"Thanks to the Delta variant, the Covid pandemic is once again raging out of control," New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said at a news conference.

And it's through our people getting vaccinated."

Over the past week, the city saw more than 1,000 new Covid-19 cases, Cantrell said.

As for the EMS, Cantrell said, "We currently do not have the capacity to respond to 911 calls that come from our community right now."

With only 36.8% of Louisiana's population fully vaccinated, the state saw the country's highest case rate per 100,000 people over the past week at 573.3 cases, federal health shows.

"Right now at least 83.7% of all the Covid cases in our region is a result of the Delta variant, and so anyone who is Covid positive in Louisiana should assume that it is from the Delta variant, and ultimately you have to take the same precautions, regardless," he said.

Safety restrictions and mask guidances are making a return as cases rose by at least 10% in nearly every US state in the last week, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

The variant spreads quicker and more easily than the first coronavirus strain and can infect fully vaccinated people whose symptoms are usually milder.

And with lagging vaccination numbers, children are bearing the brunt of new cases.