Even as the Centers for Disease Control eases its mask guidance to exempt fully vaccinated people in most instances, Louisiana sees its infection and death rates continuing to decline, although slowly.

The latest data from the Louisiana Department of Health showed the state with 426 new cases Thursday after 13,644 reported tests. That puts the rough positivity rate at 3.1 percent.

The new cases pushed the state’s total of identified cases to 464,412. Of the overall identified cases, 393,604 are confirmed, with 70,808 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 10,469 total COVID-19 deaths as of Thursday, with six new deaths added. Of the total deaths, 9,516 are confirmed COVID-19 deaths, with 953 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 28.

Local numbers

In Iberia Parish, the number of cases rose to 7,134 Thursday, an increase of seven. Of those, 6,471 are confirmed, with 663 probable. The number of deaths remained at 153, with 138 confirmed and 15 probable. There have been 97,219 tests performed in the parish.

The seven-day average test positivity rose 32.7 percent, from 5.5 percent on April 28 to 7.3 percent on May 5. The incidence of tests rose 18.7 percent, from 105.7 per 10,000 population on April 28 to 125.5 on May 5.

St. Martin Parish’s number of identified cases rose to 5,321, an increase of eight, with 68,049 tests performed.

The seven-day average test positivity rate rose from 5.5 percent on April 28 to 6.6 percent on May 5, a 20 percent increase, while the testing incidence rate per 10,000 population rose 1.8 percent, from 106.3 on April 28 to 108.2 on May 5. The number of deaths dropped by one, to 115, with 104 confirmed and 11 probable.

In St. Mary Parish, the seven-day positivity rate rose to 3 percent as of May 5, up from 1.8 percent on April 28, a 66.7 percent increase. The testing incidence rate per 10,000 population rose from 60.3 on April 28 to 90.4 on May 5, a 50 percent increase. Total cases Thursday rose to 4,738 after 60,640 tests. Of those positive tests, 3,665 are confirmed, with 1,073 probable. The number of COVID-19 deaths remained at 138, with 118 confirmed and 20 probable.

Around the state

In Lafayette Parish, the Tuesday case count rose to 23,624, an increase of one, with the number of tests rising to 341,106. The seven-day test positivity average dropped to 4.7 percent as of May 5, down 4.1 percent from 4.9 percent on April 28. The testing incidence rate per 10,000 population dropped during the same period, from 98 on April 28 to 82.4 on May 5, a 16 percent decrease. The number of deaths rose by one, to 279, with 253 confirmed and 26 probable.

The number of cases in Jefferson Parish rose to 46,310 on Thursday, compared to an increase to 30,204 in Orleans Parish. The latest data shows Orleans administered more tests, with 961,440, compared to 668,431 tests in Jefferson.

Jefferson Parish continues to surpass the COVID-19 death toll in Orleans Parish. Orleans Parish deaths remained at 792, with 738 confirmed and 54 probable. In Jefferson Parish, the total number of deaths rose by one, to 895, with 849 confirmed and 46 probable.

Hospitalizations

The LDH report showed hospitalizations statewide due to coronavirus infections dropped to 326 on Wednesday, down two from 328 on Tuesday. The number of patients on ventilators was up by four, to 32.

The number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in Region 4, which covers Acadiana, rose by one, to 53 Wednesday. The number of patients on ventilators remained at five.

Overall hospital bed occupancy in Region 4 Sunday was at 70.9 percent, with 1,210 of the region’s beds occupied and 497 available. The total number of reported beds was at 1,707.

Overall intensive care unit occupancy across Acadiana was at 81 percent Wednesday, with 128 of 158 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 95,442 Thursday. It is the demographic group with the largest number of identified cases by far. The number of deaths reported in the group was 38.

The number of COVID-19 cases identified in the 30 to 39 age group was at 75,060, with 134 deaths, followed closely by the 40 to 49 age group, with 67,569 cases and 316 deaths, and the 50 to 59 age range with 66,425 cases, including 904 fatalities reported.

In the 60 to 69 age group, there were 52,525 cases reported and 1,996 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 46,370. The number of deaths in that group rose to 7,074 — 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 60,711 cases total — 11,181 age 4 and under — and seven reported deaths.

Seven-day average

The state’s seven-day average of tests given as of May 5 was 177 tests per 10,000 residents, down from 181 on April 28. The positivity rate among those tests rose three-tenths of a point as of May 5 to 3 percent, up from 2.7 percent on April 28.

In Region 4, the April 28 testing rate was lower than the statewide number, at 174.7 tests per 10,000 residents, a decrease from 194.2. The seven-day average percent positive of those tests was far higher than the state average at 4.6 percent, up from 4.3 percent on April 28.

According to Thursday’s update, labs in Louisiana have processed 7,202,458 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, 53.3 percent to 46.7 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 38.27 percent as of May 5, while White victims still make up 60.29 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 0.78 percent and Other at 0.37 percent.

The top three underlying conditions among COVID-19 deaths in the April 21 report were hypertension (62.99 percent), diabetes (36.94 percent), and cardiac disease (27.64 percent).

Other factors included neurological disorders (26.32 percent), chronic kidney disease (21.76 percent), obesity (21.55 percent), congestive heart failure (16.43 percent), pulmonary issues (14.96 percent), cancer (9.01 percent), and asthma (4.19 percent). Only 4.28 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.