As the number of coronavirus cases in Louisiana continues to surge, Gov. John Bel Edwards warned federal officials the New Orleans area is on track to run out of its ability to deliver health care by April 4.

Edwards made the projection in a letter sent to the White House Monday, seeking a Major Disaster Declaration and federal aid to help Louisiana, which has one of the highest rates of coronavirus infections per capita in the U.S.

"With our current rate of new virus cases, our hospital current capacity to successfully treat infected patients will be exceeded," Edwards wrote. "For the New Orleans area, the current projections of hospitalizations significantly exceed capacity beginning on April 4, 2020."

The projection comes as a stay-at-home order for Louisiana's 4.6 million residents goes into effect, and as the state scrambles for resources like protective gear for medical workers, ventilators and hospital beds.

Edwards said while the number of cases is increasing daily, "we only have 381 ICU beds available," though it was not immediately clear how many the state expects it will need.

To help establish beds for the ongoing surge in patients, Edwards' administration has begun contracting to build out hotels to provide beds for patients. The state has also opened isolation sites at three state parks with the capacity to house more than 300 patients, including homeless people.

Last week, Edwards issued a similarly dire warning to President Donald Trump while on a phone call with the White House and other governors, saying the New Orleans area was on track to run out of the capacity to deliver health care in seven to 10 days. The governor declined to provide the data used to create that model, and later called it a "worst-case scenario" that the state was currently on track to hit.

Read Louisiana's request for major disaster declaration during coronavirus crisis The request outlines what the state has done so far and what the concerns are.

Edwards in recent days has sounded the alarm that Louisiana's trajectory of cases is similar to that of Italy, where thousands have died and hospitals have become overrun.

Christina Stephens, a spokeswoman for the governor, said Trump has already approved similar Major Disaster Declaration requests for California, Washington and New York.