President Donald Trump has approved Louisiana’s request for a Major Disaster Declaration, opening access to more federal aid to combat coronavirus in the state.

The declaration frees up more direct federal aid for Louisiana’s state and city governments to combat the surging coronavirus outbreak.

Gov. John Bel Edwards said earlier Tuesday that Louisiana could run out of hospital beds soon.

“It would be in the April 4 or 5 timeframe,” the governor said. “The number of cases in Louisiana continues to rise more drastically than we would like.”

Dr. Rebekah Gee, CEO of the LSU Health System and a former state health secretary, said that New Orleans is set to become the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I know we’re asking for additional personnel, additional equipment, and we’ll need to set up additional hospital capacity throughout the state and that declaration will allow for that,” Gee said.