The Louisiana Department of Health reported that the state added 4,402 new COVID-19 cases Thursday as well as 916 backlogged cases that go back to as early as November.

The new cases were based on 43,155 new tests. The 916 backlogged cases were based on 4,963 tests going back to Nov. 9. Together, the reported cases pushed the state’s total of identified cases to 361,148.

Of those, 320,462 are confirmed, with 40,686 listed as possible cases.

According to an LDH spokesman, people 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 rough positivity rate for Thursday’s new tests was 10.2 percent. The rate for the backlogged tests was 18.5 percent 

Louisiana has more than 8,000 total COVID-19 deaths as of Wednesday, with almost 200 new deaths being added since Sunday.

Thursday’s update also showed the state adding 58 new deaths. That brought the total reported deaths to 8,080. Of those, 7,631 are confirmed, with 449 considered probable COVID-19 fatalities pending final testing.

That rise represents an increase of 0.72 percent. The average age of fatal patients remained at 75, while the median age remained at 77.

Local numbers

In Iberia Parish, the number of cases was at 5,508 Thursday, an increase of 59. Of those,5,129 are confirmed, with 379 probable. The number of deaths rose by one, to 127, with 119 confirmed and eight probable. There have been 65,633 tests performed in the parish. The seven-day average test positivity rose by 11.45 percent, from 13.1 percent on Dec. 30 to 14.6 percent on Jan. 6. The incidence of tests rose by 17.11 percent, from 428.53 per 10,000 population to 501.83.

St. Martin Parish’s number of identified cases rose to 4,268, an increase of 56, with 49,031 tests performed. The seven-day average test positivity rate rose from 16.9 percent on Dec. 30 to 18.5 percent on Jan. 6, a 9.47 percent increase, while the incidence rate per 10,000 population rose from 415.88 on Dec. 30 to 458.78 on Jan. 6. The number of deaths rose by one, to 94, with 86 confirmed and eight probable.

In St. Mary Parish, the seven-day positivity rate rose from 10.7 percent on Dec. 30 to 11.2 percent on Jan. 6, an increase of 4.67 percent. The testing incidence rate per 10,000 population increased, from 341.54 on Dec. 30 to 411.86 on Jan. 6. Total cases rose to 3,480, an increase of 61 Thursday after 40,519 tests. Of those cases, 2,968 are confirmed, with 512 probable. The number of COVID-19 deaths remained at 104, with 97 confirmed and seven probable. 

Around the state

In Lafayette Parish, the Wednesday case count rose by 148, to 18,968, with the number of tests rising to 243,057. The seven-day test positivity average dropped slightly, from 15.5 percent on Dec. 30 to 15.4  percent as of Jan. 6, a decrease of 0.65 percent. The incidence rate per 10,000 population rose during the same period, from 414.36 to 472.03. The number of deaths rose by four, to 212, with 199 confirmed and 13 probable. 

The number of cases in Jefferson Parish rose to 36,677 on Wednesday, an increase of 528, compared to an increase of 434, to 23,965, in Orleans Parish. The latest data shows Orleans administered more tests, with 581,844, compared to 452,353 tests in Jefferson.

Jefferson Parish continues to surpass the COVID-19 death toll in Orleans Parish. Orleans Parish deaths rose by one, to 696, with 650 confirmed and 46 probable. In Jefferson Parish, the total number of deaths rose by three, to 715, with 688 confirmed and 27 probable.

Hospitalizations

The LDH reporting on hospitalizations statewide due to coronavirus infections showed 1,975 hospitalizations on Wednesday, a decrease of 54 from 2,025 on Tuesday. The number of patients on ventilators rose by 10, to 245.

The number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in Region 4, which covers Acadiana, dropped by two, to 208 Wednesday. The number of patients on ventilators rose by two, to 36.

Overall hospital bed occupancy in Region 4 Wednesday was at 78.9 percent, with 1,330 of the region’s beds occupied and 355 available. The total number of reported beds was at 1,685.

Overall intensive care unit occupancy across Acadiana remained above 90 percent Wednesday, at 90.7 percent, with 146 of 161 beds occupied.

The overall occupancy percentages are based on all cases, not just COVID-19 cases, and includes not only the physical bed and space but also the staff required to issue care. The burden of additional patient load affects the ability of hospitals to serve all patients, especially in critical care situations.

By age group

Broken down by age group, the number of cases statewide in the 18 to 29 demographic was at 75,002 Thursday. It is the demographic group with the largest number of identified cases by far. The number of deaths reported in the group was 28. 

The number of COVID-19 cases identified in the 30 to 39 age group was at 58,008, with 105 deaths, followed closely by the 40 to 49 age group, with 52,621 cases and 244 deaths, and the 50 to 59 age range with 52,058 cases, including 670 fatalities reported. 

In the 60 to 69 age group, there were 41,759 cases reported and 1,485 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 38,987. The number of deaths in that group rose to 5,541 — 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 had 42,419 cases total — 7,855 age 4 and under — and seven reported deaths.

Seven-day average

The state’s seven-day average of tests given as of Jan. 6 was 314.8 tests per 10,000 residents, down from 370.8 on Dec. 30. The positivity rate among those tests rose as of Jan. 6 to 13.5 percent, up from 13.4 percent on Dec. 30. 

In Region 4, the Jan. 6 testing rate was at 312.4 tests per 10,000 residents. The seven-day average percent positive of those tests was above the state average at 14.2 percent, up from 13.6 percent on Dec. 30.

According to Thursday’s update, labs in Louisiana have processed 4,805,202 COVID-19 tests so far.

Gender, underlying conditions

By gender, the state’s weekly report shows women making up the largest part — 56 percent — of the identified COVID-19 cases in the state, with men comprising 44 percent. On the other hand, the COVID-19 deaths are predominantly among men, 52.5 percent to 47.5 percent for women.

The number of presumed recovered cases, as of Jan. 4, rose to 298,614. 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.

Initially, LDH reported that 70 percent of all COVID-19 deaths in the state were in the Black community. That number remained at 40.16 percent as of Jan. 6, while White victims now make up 58.46 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 0.68 percent, Unknown at 0.05 percent and Other at 0.41 percent.

That data is only reported once every two weeks as of the beginning of the year, with the next update due on Jan. 27.

The top three underlying conditions among COVID-19 deaths in the latest report were hypertension (63.65 percent), diabetes (37.25 percent), and neurological disorders (26.99 percent).

Other factors included cardiac disease (26.42 percent), chronic kidney disease (21.71 percent), obesity (20.84 percent), congestive heart failure (16.56 percent), pulmonary issues (14.69 percent), cancer (8.7 percent), and asthma (4.17 percent). Only 4.2 percent of all patients had no underlying conditions.