BATON ROUGE - The number of COVID-related hospitalizations in Louisiana is higher than it has been in months, according to state data.

The Louisiana Department of Health said 874 people were hospitalized with the virus as of Tuesday. That's the highest coronavirus hospitalization count the state has seen since the end of August, when 910 people were being treated.

Late last week, Louisiana surpassed the number of hospitalizations it was reporting when it first entered 'phase 3' of its reopening plan. The state had 703 people being treated in hospitals when Governor Edwards' phase 3 order first took effect Sept. 11.

Hospitalizations initially continued to drop off coming out of phase 2, falling as low as 518 on Oct. 3. However, the number of patients gradually increased throughout the rest of the month and has spiked by nearly 200 people in the past week.

Louisiana is scheduled to remain in phase 3 until at least Dec. 4, at which point the governor must decide whether he will extend the order once again.