Louisiana’s percent positivity of newly reported COVID-19 cases Tuesday was lower than it has been in previous days, but still higher than last month.

The latest data from the Louisiana Department of Health showed the state with 359 new cases after 16,365 reported tests. That puts the rough positivity rate at 2.2 percent, lower than the 3.75 percent being reported last week. In March, the rough daily positivity rate was averaging around 1.5 percent.

Overall, though, the daily statewide number of new infections is still trending lower than it had since the lull last fall.

The new cases pushed the state’s total of identified cases to 453,711. Of the overall identified cases, 386,105 are confirmed, with 67,606 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.

Louisiana had 10,306 total COVID-19 deaths as of Tuesday, with 13 new deaths added. Of the total deaths, 9,410 are confirmed COVID-19 deaths, with 896 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 April 7.

Local numbers

In Iberia Parish, the number of cases rose to 6,860 Tuesday, an increase of three. Of those, 6,253 are confirmed, with 607 probable. The number of deaths remained at 152, with 138 confirmed and 14 probable. There have been 92,389 tests performed in the parish. The seven-day average test positivity rose by 134.6 percent, from 2.6 percent on March 31 to 6.1 percent on April 7. The incidence of tests rose by 148 percent, from 35.2 per 10,000 population on March 31 to 87.4 on April 7.

St. Martin Parish’s number of identified cases rose by 10, to 5,148, with 64,478 tests performed. The seven-day average test positivity rate rose from 7.5 percent on March 31 to 8.4 percent on April 7, a 12 percent increase, while the testing incidence rate per 10,000 population rose 4.8 percent, from 78.3 on March 31 to 82.1 on April 7. The number of deaths remained at 115, with 104 confirmed and 11 probable.

In St. Mary Parish, the seven-day positivity rate dropped to 4.5 percent as of April 7, down from 5.9 percent on March 31, a 23.7 percent decrease. The testing incidence rate per 10,000 population fell, from 118.5 on March 31 to 104.5 on April 7, an 11.9 percent decrease. Total cases Tuesday rose to 4,618 after 57,808 tests. Of those positive tests, 3,612 are confirmed, with 1,006 probable. The number of COVID-19 deaths remained at 134, with 117 confirmed and 17 probable.

Around the state

In Lafayette Parish, the Tuesday case count rose to 22,859, an increase of 15, with the number of tests rising to 322,046. The seven-day test positivity average rose to 4.4 percent as of April 7, up 29.4 percent from 3.4 percent on March 31. The testing incidence rate per 10,000 population rose during the same period, from 58.5 on March 31 to 63 on April 7, a 7.8 percent increase. The number of deaths rose by one, to 273, with 252 confirmed and 21 probable.

The number of cases in Jefferson Parish rose to 45,556 on Tuesday, compared to an increase to 29,652 in Orleans Parish. The latest data shows Orleans administered more tests, with 906,708, compared to 635,141 tests in Jefferson.

Jefferson Parish continues to surpass the COVID-19 death toll in Orleans Parish. Orleans Parish deaths remained at 789, with 736 confirmed and 53 probable. In Jefferson Parish, the total number of deaths remained at 886, with 845 confirmed and 41 probable.

Hospitalizations

The LDH report showed hospitalizations statewide due to coronavirus infections rose to 344 on Monday, up seven from 337. The number of patients on ventilators rose by two, to 41.

The number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in Region 4, which covers Acadiana, rose by three, to 69 Monday. The number of patients on ventilators rose by one, to seven.

Overall hospital bed occupancy in Region 4 Monday dropped to 67.3 percent, with 1,152 of the region’s beds occupied and 560 available. The total number of reported beds was at 1,712.

Overall intensive care unit occupancy across Acadiana was at 76.7 percent Monday, with 122 of 159 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 92,846 Tuesday. It is the demographic group with the largest number of identified cases by far. The number of deaths reported in the group was 34.

The number of COVID-19 cases identified in the 30 to 39 age group was at 73,041, with 131 deaths, followed closely by the 40 to 49 age group, with 66,072 cases and 303 deaths, and the 50 to 59 age range with 65,155 cases, including 877 fatalities reported.

In the 60 to 69 age group, there were 51,860 cases reported and 1,962 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 45,948. The number of deaths in that group rose to 6,992 — 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 58,483 cases total — 10,705 age 4 and under — and seven reported deaths.

Seven-day average

The state’s seven-day average of tests given as of April 7 was 160.1 tests per 10,000 residents, down from 195.6 on March 31. The positivity rate among those tests rose four-tenths of a point as of April 7 to 2.6 percent, up from 2.2 percent on March 31.

In Region 4, the April 7 testing rate was even lower, at 150.6 tests per 10,000 residents. The seven-day average percent positive of those tests was far higher than the state average at 4.2 percent, up from 3 percent on March 31.

According to Tuesday’s update, labs in Louisiana have processed 6,825,266 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 38.3 percent as of April 7, while White victims now make up 60.2 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 and Other at 0.4 percent.

The top three underlying conditions among COVID-19 deaths in the April 7 report were hypertension (63 percent), diabetes (37 percent), and cardiac disease (27.4 percent).

Other factors included neurological disorders (26.5 percent), chronic kidney disease (21.6 percent), obesity (21.2 percent), congestive heart failure (16.5 percent), pulmonary issues (15 percent), cancer (8.8 percent), and asthma (4.1 percent). Only 4.2 percent of all patients had no underlying conditions.

Dwayne Fatherree is the community editor for The Daily Iberian. He can be reached at dwayne.fatherree@daily-iberian.com.