The number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in Louisiana is still hovering just below the 3,000 mark as the state reported another 5,000 new cases and more than 50 new deaths from the disease Thursday.

The daily LDH report shows 2,901 hospitalizations statewide due to the coronavirus pandemic as of Wednesday, up six from 2,895 on Tuesday. That is the highest number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in the state since data started being collected in March of 2020.

The report also saw the state add 5,268 new identified cases of the disease along with 54 new deaths.

The state also reported 386 patients on ventilators as of Wednesday, an increase of 13 from Tuesday and the highest that number had been since April 16, 2020.

Region 4 hospitalizations as of Wednesday were at 365, an increase of 15 and the highest they have been during the pandemic. Of those cases, 48 are on ventilators, an increase of two and the highest since Aug. 6, 2020.

Region 4’s ICU bed occupancy remains at the limit, according to the latest state data. As of Wednesday, there were four of the 163 beds across the region available, for an occupancy rate of 97.5 percent. The overall hospital bed occupancy in Region 4 was also up Wednesday at 82.4 percent, with 298 of 1,692 available.

Iberia Parish was at 9,929 cases Thursday, an increase of 144. The parish also added two deaths, climbing to 175. In St. Martin Parish, 84 new cases were identified, bringing the total there to 6,977. The number of deaths rose by one, to 126.

In St. Mary Parish, new cases rose to 7,037, an increase of 44, with deaths rising by six, to 161.

Statewide, 90 percent of new infections and 83 percent of deaths between July 28 and Aug. 4 and 91 percent of the state’s current hospitalizations were among unvaccinated patients. 

The seven-day test positivity rates released Wednesday showed the Teche Area numbers remaining high, but only Iberia Parish increasing in positivity. In Iberia Parish, the seven-day positivity rate rose from 23.1 percent on July 28 to 24.6 percent on Aug. 4. In St. Martin Parish, the seven-day average positivity dropped nearly two points over the same period, from 24.5 to 22.6 percent. St. Mary Parish saw a 6.8 percent decrease, from 19.1 percent to 17.8 percent.

All three parishes are well beyond the state average, which was at 16.1 percent as of Aug. 4, an increase from 15.6 percent on July 28.

Across Region 4, which encompasses the Acadiana parishes, the overall seven-day positivity rate was down slightly, from 18.8 percent on July 28 to 18.7 percent on Aug. 4.

The seven-day percent positivity numbers released on Aug. 11 include data from the first three days of Gov. John Bel Edwards’ reinstated mask mandate. Those figures are released weekly.