The latest data from the Louisiana Department of Health showed the state with 481 new cases Tuesday after 14,106 reported tests. That puts the rough positivity rate at 3.4 percent.

The new cases pushed the state’s total of identified cases to 466,440. Of the overall identified cases, 395,153 are confirmed, with 71,287 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 10,500 total COVID-19 deaths as of Tuesday, with 11 new deaths added. Of the total deaths, 9,537 are confirmed COVID-19 deaths, with 963 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 7,188 Tuesday, an increase of 15. Of those, 6,520 are confirmed, with 668 probable. The number of deaths remained at 153, with 138 confirmed and 15 probable. There have been 97,981 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 dropped by 21, to 5,347, with 68,669 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 rose by one, to 116, with 104 confirmed and 12 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 Friday rose to 4,769 after 61,081 tests. Of those positive tests, 3,687 are confirmed, with 1,082 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 23,768, an increase of 30, with the number of tests rising to 343,887. 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 280, with 254 confirmed and 26 probable.

The number of cases in Jefferson Parish rose to 46,479 on Tuesday, compared to an increase to 30,331 in Orleans Parish. The latest data shows Orleans administered more tests, with 969,377, compared to 674,950 tests in Jefferson.

Jefferson Parish continues to surpass the COVID-19 death toll in Orleans Parish. Orleans Parish deaths rose by one, to 793, with 739 confirmed and 54 probable. In Jefferson Parish, the total number of deaths remained at 895, with 849 confirmed and 46 probable.

Hospitalizations

The LDH report showed hospitalizations statewide due to coronavirus infections climbed to 299 on Monday, up 19 from 280 on Sunday. The number of patients on ventilators rose by one, to 26.

A third of those new COVID-19 hospitalizations came from Region 4, which covers Acadiana, where hospitalizations rose by six, to 59 Monday. The number of patients on ventilators remained at five.

Overall hospital bed occupancy in Region 4 Monday was at 69.3 percent, with 1,166 of the region’s beds occupied and 516 available. The total number of reported beds was at 1,682.

Overall intensive care unit occupancy across Acadiana was at 86.8 percent Monday, with 131 of 151 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 95,899 Monday. 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 75,415, with 135 deaths, followed closely by the 40 to 49 age group, with 67,850 cases and 323 deaths, and the 50 to 59 age range with 66,682 cases, including 911 fatalities reported.

In the 60 to 69 age group, there were 52,676 cases reported and 2,004 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 46,461. The number of deaths in that group rose to 7,082 — 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 61,148 cases total — 11,287 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 7,263,667 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.