The Louisiana Department of Health COVID-19 update Wednesday showed 508 new cases based on 17,506 new tests. That pushed the state’s total of identified cases to 444,933. 

Of the overall identified cases, 380,052 are confirmed, with 64,881 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 the new cases reported Wednesday was 2.9 percent. 

Louisiana had 10,122 total COVID-19 deaths as of Wednesday, with only nine new deaths added. Of the total deaths, 9,293 are confirmed COVID-19 deaths, with 848 considered probable COVID-19 fatalities pending final testing.

The average age of fatal patients remained at 75, while the median age was at 76 as of March 24.

Local numbers

In Iberia Parish, the number of cases rose to 6,660 Wednesday, an increase of 14. Of those, 6,099 are confirmed, with 561 probable. The number of deaths remained at 150, with 137 confirmed and 13 probable. There have been 88,004 tests performed in the parish. The seven-day average test positivity rose by 47 percent, from 3.4 percent on March 17 to 5 percent on March 24. The incidence of tests rose by 28.6 percent, from 39.5 per 10,000 population on March 17 to 50.8 on March 24.

St. Martin Parish’s number of identified cases rose to 5,008, an increase of seven, with 61,683 tests performed. The seven-day average test positivity rate dropped from 6.3 percent on March 17 to 4.7 percent on March 24, a 25.4 percent decrease, while the testing incidence rate per 10,000 population dropped 29.3 percent, from 74.6 on March 17 to 54.1 on March 24. The number of deaths remained at 115, with 104 confirmed and 11 probable.

In St. Mary Parish, the seven-day positivity rate rose to 7.3 percent as of March 24, up from 6 percent on March 17, a 21.7 percent increase. The testing incidence rate per 10,000 population fell, from 208.9 on March 17 to 184.4 on March 24, an 11.5 percent decrease. Total cases Wednesday rose to 4,489, an increase of two, after 55,230 tests. Of those positive tests, 3,536 are confirmed, with 953 probable. The number of COVID-19 deaths remained 129, with 114 confirmed and 15 probable. 

Around the state

In Lafayette Parish, the Tuesday case count rose to 22,277, an increase of nine, with the number of tests rising to 306,341. The seven-day test positivity average rose to 5.4 percent as of March 24, up 5.9 percent from 5.1 percent on March 17. The testing incidence rate per 10,000 population dropped during the same period, from 63 on March 10 to 61 on March 24, a 3.3 percent decrease. The number of deaths remained at 270, with 250 confirmed and 20 probable. 

The number of cases in Jefferson Parish rose to 45,036 on Wednesday, an increase of 29, compared to an increase of 30, to 29,264, in Orleans Parish. The latest data shows Orleans administered more tests, with 855,520, compared to 606,032 tests in Jefferson.

Jefferson Parish continues to surpass the COVID-19 death toll in Orleans Parish. Orleans Parish deaths remained at 782, with 730 confirmed and 52 probable. In Jefferson Parish, the total number of deaths rose by one, to 878, with 838 confirmed and 40 probable.

Hospitalizations

The LDH report showed hospitalizations statewide due to coronavirus infections dropped to 354 on Tuesday, down nine from 363. The number of patients on ventilators dropped by one, to 60.

The number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in Region 4, which covers Acadiana, dropped by three, to 52 Tuesday. The number of patients on ventilators dropped by one, to nine.

Overall hospital bed occupancy in Region 4 Tuesday was back above 70 percent, at 72 percent, with 1,217 of the region’s beds occupied and 474 available. The total number of reported beds was at 1,691.

Overall intensive care unit occupancy across Acadiana was at 74 percent Tuesday, with 120 of 162 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 90,646 Wednesday. It is the demographic group with the largest number of identified cases by far. The number of deaths reported in the group was 36. 

The number of COVID-19 cases identified in the 30 to 39 age group was at 71,437, with 128 deaths, followed closely by the 40 to 49 age group, with 64,784 cases and 298 deaths, and the 50 to 59 age range with 64,041 cases, including 855 fatalities reported. 

In the 60 to 69 age group, there were 51,231 cases reported and 1,921 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 45,557. The number of deaths in that group rose to 6,896 — 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 56,919 cases total — 10,401 age 4 and under — and seven reported deaths.

Seven-day average

The state’s seven-day average of tests given as of March 24 was 155.5 tests per 10,000 residents, down from 184 on March 17. The positivity rate among those tests two-tenths of a point as of March 24 to 2.9 percent, up from 2.7 percent on March 17. 

In Region 4, the March 24 testing rate was even lower, at 111.5 tests per 10,000 residents. The seven-day average percent positive of those tests was far higher than the state average at 5.9 percent, up from 5.2 percent on March 17.

According to Tuesday’s update, labs in Louisiana have processed 6,495,793 COVID-19 tests so far.

Gender, underlying conditions

By gender, the state’s bi-weekly report shows women still 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, 53.1 percent to 46.9 percent for women.

Initially, LDH reported that 70 percent of all COVID-19 deaths in the state were in the Black community. That number dropped to 38.4 percent as of March 24, while White victims now make up 60.1 percent of all fatal cases. 

The Native American/Alaskan Native total was at 0.15 percent. Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander data remained at 0.08 percent. Other races identified include Asian at 0.8 percent, Unknown at 0 percent and Other at 0.4 percent.

That data is supposed to be reported once every two weeks as of the beginning of the year.

The top three underlying conditions among COVID-19 deaths in the March 24 report were hypertension (62.8 percent), diabetes (36.9 percent), and cardiac disease (27.3 percent).

Other factors included neurological disorders (26.4 percent), chronic kidney disease (21.5 percent), obesity (21.1 percent), congestive heart failure (16.4 percent), pulmonary issues (14.3 percent), cancer (8.9 percent), and asthma (4.1 percent). Only 4.2 percent of all patients had no underlying conditions.