Louisiana saw nearly 7,000 new cases added to its COVID-19 dashboard Wednesday, one of the biggest single-day gains seen since the pandemic began.

The daily Louisiana Department of Health update showed 6,754 new COVID-19 cases based on 52,109 new tests, pushing the state’s total so far to 311,229.

Of those, 282,148 are confirmed, with 29,081 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.

The rough positivity rate for Wednesday’s tests is 12.96 percent.

According to the update, the number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 rose to 7,448, an increase of 51 from Tuesday’s total of 7,397. Of those, 7,078 are confirmed, with 370 considered probable COVID-19 fatalities pending final testing. 

That rise represents an increase of 0.83 percent. The average age of fatal patients remained at 75, while the median age remained at 77.

Local numbers

In Iberia Parish, the number of cases was at 4,769 Tuesday, an increase of 127. Of those, 4,496 are confirmed, with 273 probable. The number of deaths remained at 120, with 114 confirmed and six probable. There have been 58,693 tests performed in the parish. The seven-day average test positivity dropped by 3.1 percent, from 9.6 percent on Dec. 16 to 9.3 percent on Dec. 23. The incidence of tests decreased from 319.98 per 10,000 population to 305.89.

St. Martin Parish’s number of identified cases rose to 3,750, an increase of 55, with 45,149 tests performed. The seven-day average test positivity rate rose from 14.2 percent on Dec. 16 to 15 percent on Dec. 23, a 5.6 percent increase, while the incidence rate per 10,000 population dropped from 425.21 on Dec. 16 to 395.37 on Dec. 23. The number of deaths remained at 82, with 76 confirmed and six probable.

In St. Mary Parish, the seven-day positivity rate rose by 7.9 percent on Dec. 23 to 8.2 percent, up from 7.6 percent on Dec. 16. The incidence rate per 10,000 population increased, from 227.03 on Dec. 16 to 231.04 on Dec. 23. Total cases rose to 3,050 Wednesday, an increase of 135, after 45,149 tests. Of those cases, 2,706 are confirmed, with 344 probable. The number of COVID-19 deaths remained at 102, with 96 confirmed and six probable. 

Around the state

In Lafayette Parish, the Wednesday case count rose by 352, to 16,506, with the number of tests rising to 223,720. The seven-day test positivity average dropped from 11.8 percent on Dec. 16 to 10.5  percent as of Dec. 23, a decrease of 11 percent. The incidence rate per 10,000 population rose during the same period, from 420.13 to 307.68. The number of deaths dropped by one, to 187, with 178 confirmed and nine probable. 

The number of cases in Jefferson Parish rose to 31,098 on Tuesday, an increase of 470, compared to an increase of 287, to 20,524, in Orleans Parish. The latest data shows Orleans administered more tests, with 532,590, compared to 407,986 tests in Jefferson.

Jefferson Parish continues to surpass the confirmed COVID-19 death toll in Orleans Parish. Orleans Parish deaths rose by two, to 679, with 638 confirmed and 41 probable. In Jefferson Parish, the total number of deaths rose by one, to 668, with 642 confirmed and 26 probable.

Hospitalizations

The LDH reporting on hospitalizations statewide due to coronavirus infections showed 1,717 hospitalizations on Tuesday, an increase of 28 from 1,689 on Monday. The number of patients on ventilators dropped by eight, to 210. 

The number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in Region 4, which covers Acadiana, rose by nine to 204 Tuesday, up from 195 Sunday. The number of patients on ventilators Tuesday dropped by two, to 17.

Overall hospital bed occupancy in Region 4 Tuesday rose slightly higher, to 76.1 percent, with 1,190 of the region’s beds occupied and 374 available. The total number of reported beds was at 1,564.

Overall intensive care unit occupancy across Acadiana also rose, to 88.5 percent Tuesday, with 139 of 157 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 64,738 Wednesday. It is the demographic group with the largest number of identified cases by far. The number of deaths reported in the group was 28. 

The number of COVID-19 cases identified in the 30 to 39 age group was at 50,146, with 98 deaths, followed closely by the 40 to 49 age group, with 45,370 cases and 231 deaths, and the 50 to 59 age range with 44,843 cases, including 620 fatalities reported. 

In the 60 to 69 age group, there were 35,740 cases reported and 1,361 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 33,544. The number of deaths in that group rose to 5,103 — 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 35,540 cases total — 6,607 age 4 and under — and seven reported deaths.

Seven-day average

The state’s seven-day average of tests given as of Dec. 23 was 285.3 tests per 10,000 residents, down from 325 on Dec. 16. The positivity rate among those tests rose to 10.7 percent, up from 9.5 percent on Dec. 16. 

In Region 4, the Dec. 23 testing rate was at 322.9 tests per 10,000 residents. The seven-day average percent positive of those tests was below the state average at 10.2 percent, down from 10.4 percent on Dec. 16.

According to Wednesday’s update, labs in Louisiana have processed 4,367,542 COVID-19 tests so far.

Gender, underlying conditions

By gender, the state’s weekly report shows women 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, 52.3 percent to 47.7 percent for women.

The number of presumed recovered cases, as of Dec. 28, rose to 263,712. In order to be considered recovered, a living patient must either be out of the hospital and 14 days past a positive test result, or 21 days past a positive test date if their hospitalization status is unknown.

Initially, LDH reported that 70 percent of all COVID-19 deaths in the state were in the Black community. That number has since dropped to 41.27 percent as of Dec. 30, while White victims now make up 57.46 percent of all fatal cases. 

The Native American/Alaskan Native total was at 0.1 percent. Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander data remained at 0.08 percent. Other races identified include Asian at 0.68 percent, Unknown at 0.01 percent and Other at 0.37 percent.

That data is only reported once a week, updated on Wednesday.

The top three underlying conditions among COVID-19 deaths in the latest report were hypertension (63.88 percent), diabetes (37.25 percent), and neurological disorders (27.34 percent).

Other factors included cardiac disease (26.42 percent), chronic kidney disease (22.05 percent), obesity (20.69 percent), congestive heart failure (16.73 percent), pulmonary issues (14.54 percent), cancer (8.71 percent), and asthma (4.07 percent). Only 4.2 percent of all patients had no underlying conditions.