The number of COVID-19 hospitalizations and patients on ventilators across the state continued their decline Thursday after a slight stutter step earlier in the week.

According to Thursday’s data from the Louisiana Department of Health, the state data showed the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients at 1,431 Wednesday, down 90 from 1,521 Tuesday. Over the same period, the data showed the number of patients on ventilators decreased Wednesday to 267, down nine from Tuesday’s total of 276.

In Region 4, which encompasses the Acadiana area, hospitalizations dropped by eight Wednesday to 179, down from 187 Tuesday. The region’s number of ventilator cases remained at 40 Wednesday.

But Region 4’s ICU bed occupancy was at 159 Wednesday, with 16 beds available across the seven-parish area. That put the percentage of occupied ICU beds below 90 percent, at 89.8 percent, for the first time since early last month.

In Region 3, which stretches from St. Mary Parish east to Lafourche and north to St. Charles, 35 of 46 ICU beds were occupied as of Wednesday, but that total is down by 50 from the 96 ICU beds available prior to Hurricane Ida’s passage. To the west, where Region 5 encompasses the area from Allen, Jefferson Davis and Cameron parishes to the Texas-Louisiana state line, 16 of 83 reported ICU beds were available.

The overall hospital bed occupancy in Region 4 rose to 78 percent Wednesday, with 377 of 1,720 beds available.

As of Sept. 8, the state’s seven-day COVID-19 test percent positivity was at 10 percent, down from 11.3 percent on Sept. 1.

In Iberia Parish, the seven-day test positivity average was at 13.4 percent on Sept. 8, down from 18.1 percent on Sept. 1.

In St. Martin Parish, the percentage dropped by a third on Sept. 8, down from 14.5 percent on Sept. 1 to 9.7 percent on Sept. 8.

St. Mary Parish saw an even larger decrease, from 17.8 percent on Sept. 1 to 11.4 percent on Sept. 8, a 36 percent drop.

Iberia Parish had logged 12,035 COVID-19 cases as of Thursday, an increase of 17. The parish COVID-19 death toll remained at 212. In St. Martin Parish, new cases identified brought the total there to 8,073, an increase of eight. The number of deaths remained at 153.

In St. Mary Parish, new cases rose to 8,167, with deaths rising to 204.

According to Thursday’s LDH update, the number of COVID-19 cases reported rose by 1,663 since Wednesday, to 723,458. The state also recorded 48 new deaths since Wednesday, bringing the total to 13,366.