BATON ROUGE - For the second time since the start of the pandemic, medics with the U.S. military will be in the capital area to help respond to a surging number of coronavirus hospitalizations.

A spokesperson for Baton Rouge General confirmed Friday that medically trained military personnel are heading to BRG's mid-city location to help deal with the area's spike in hospitalized coronavirus patients. 

The team consists of 33 clinicians, including nurses and nurse practitioners. They are expected to arrive Saturday morning and stay through August, allowing the hospital to open up about a dozen more patient beds.

It comes just days after another local hospital, Our Lady of the Lake, announced it was suspending non-emergency surgeries for two weeks in order insure the facility has bed space for coronavirus patients. 

In April, the U.S. Navy sent personnel to assist BRG staff. They were sent off in late May, as the number of virus cases in Louisiana began to taper off, though the state has seen a resurgence of cases in recent weeks.