The daily update from the Louisiana Department of Health shows that intensive care unit beds are in short supply across Region 4, with more than nine in 10 occupied as of Monday.

The overall intensive care bed occupancy rate in Region 4 was at 92 percent Monday, well ahead of any potential post-Thanksgiving surge in cases. With 149 beds occupied and 13 ICU beds still available, the region has a total of 162 ICU beds available.

Monday’s data showed that hospital bed occupancy in Region 4 rose to 78.6 percent, with 1,233 of the region’s beds occupied and 335 available. The total number of reported beds was at 1,568.

The LDH reporting of data on hospitalizations due to coronavirus infections are rising as well. On Tuesday, the state reported 1,052 hospitalizations as of Monday, an increase of 40 from 1,012 on Sunday. The number of patients on ventilators dropped by one, to 113 Monday. The last time those numbers were in that range was on Aug. 21.

The number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in Region 4, which covers Acadiana, rose by nine to 161 on Monday, up from 152 on Sunday. The number of patients on ventilators Monday dropped to 15, down by two from 17 on Sunday. Those types of numbers also hearken back to Aug. 19 and 20.

Tuesday’s daily COVID-19 data showed the state adding 3,266 new cases, raising the total identified infections so far in the state to 224,403. Of those, 213,214 are confirmed, with 11,189 possible cases.

According to an LDH spokesman, individuals initially identified as having a positive antigen test who are later identified as having a positive confirmatory test will be removed from the possible case count and added to the cumulative case count.

The state added 40,054 new test results Tuesday, making the rough positivity rate for that day’s tests 8.2 percent.

According to the Wednesday update, the number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 rose to 6,323, an increase of 39 from 6,284 on Monday. Of those, 6,072 are confirmed, with 251  considered probable COVID-19 fatalities pending final testing. 

That rise represents an increase of 0.62 percent. The average age of fatal patients is 75, the median age 76.

In Iberia Parish, the number of cases was at 3,592 Monday, an increase of 68. Of those, 3,501 are confirmed, with 91 probable. The number of deaths remained at 104, 101 confirmed and three probable, with 43,014 tests performed in the parish.

St. Martin Parish’s number of identified cases rose to 2,653, a decrease of 73, with 36,227 tests performed. The number of deaths rose by one to 71, 66 confirmed and five probable.

In St. Mary Parish, total cases rose by seven to 2,322 after 26,922 tests. Of those, 2,228 are confirmed, with 94 probable. The number of COVID-19 deaths rose by one to 95, with 89 confirmed and six probable. 

In Lafayette Parish, the Tuesday case count rose to 11,695, an increase of 231, with the number of tests rising to 179,255. That equates to a rough positivity rate of 19.6 for that batch of tests. The number of deaths rose by one to146, with 145 confirmed and one probable. 

The number of cases in Jefferson Parish rose to 21,553 on Tuesday, an increase of 272, compared to 15,353 in Orleans Parish, an increase of 149. The latest data shows Orleans administered more tests, with 412,508 in Orleans compared to 302,286 tests in Jefferson.

Despite lower case numbers, the more urban Orleans Parish has seen four more confirmed deaths than its suburban neighbor. Orleans Parish deaths rose by one to 646, with 607 confirmed and 39 probable. In Jefferson Parish, the total number of deaths remained at 628, with 603 confirmed and 25 probable. 

According to the latest update last Wednesday, the state’s seven-day average of tests given as of Nov. 11 was 239.3 tests per 10,000 residents. The positivity rate among those tests was 7.5 percent, a number last seen on Aug. 19.

But in Region 4, the Nov. 11 numbers were even worse. The testing rate in the region was marginally above the state average, at 242.7 tests per 10,000 residents. The seven-day average percent positive of those tests, however, was well above the state average at 10.3 percent. That is the highest it has been since Aug. 12, when it was 10.8 percent, and more than a 70 percent increase from the previous week.

Broken down by age group, the number of cases statewide in the 18 to 29 demographic was at 49,375 Tuesday. It is the demographic group with the largest number of identified cases by far. The number of deaths reported in the group remained at 26. 

The number of COVID-19 cases identified in the 30 to 39 age group was at 35,709, with 90 deaths, followed closely by the 40 to 49 age group, with 32,931 cases and 203 deaths, and the 50 to 59 age range with 32,092 cases, including 533 fatalities reported. 

In the 60 to 69 age group, there were 25,375 cases reported and 1,151 deaths. This age group has the second-highest number of deaths, behind only the 70 and above demographic group.

The 70 and above group case count was at 24,771. The number of deaths in that group rose to 4,314 — still the largest number of fatalities for any age group by far, more than the number of deaths in all other groups combined and more than two-thirds of the total COVID-19 attributed deaths in the state.

The under 18 group, the smallest demographic segment, had 23,933 cases total — 4,498 age 4 and under — and six reported deaths.

According to Monday’s update, labs in Louisiana have processed at least 3,381,795 COVID-19 tests so far. 

By gender, the state’s daily report shows women making up the largest part — 55 percent — of the identified COVID-19 cases in the state, with men comprising 44 percent and 1 percent unknown. On the other hand, the COVID-19 deaths are predominantly among men, 52 percent to 48 percent for women.

The number of presumed recovered cases, as of Nov. 9, rose to 185,960. In order to be considered recovered, a living patient must either be out of the hospital and 14 days past a positive test result, or 21 days past a positive test date if their hospitalization status is unknown.

On Nov. 4, the weekly update of fatalities by race showed the percentage of COVID-19 deaths among White victims continued to climb. Initially, LDH reported that 70 percent of all COVID-19 deaths in the state were in the Black community. That number has since dropped to 44 percent as of Nov. 11, while White victims now make up 54.66 percent of all fatal cases. 

The Native American/Alaskan Native total was at 0.11 percent. Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander data remained at 0.08 percent. Other races identified include Asian at 0.67 percent, and Other at 0.44 percent.

That data is only reported once a week, updated on Wednesday.

The top three underlying conditions among COVID-19 deaths in the latest report were hypertension (50.35 percent), diabetes (29.06 percent), and neurological disorders (21.57 percent).

Other factors included cardiac disease (20.64 percent), chronic kidney disease (17.53 percent), obesity (16.02 percent), congestive heart failure (13.07 percent), pulmonary issues (11.26 percent), cancer (6.76 percent), and asthma (3.34 percent). Only 4.3 percent of all patients had no underlying conditions.