Sunday’s Louisiana Department of Health update on the COVID-19 pandemic shows that hospitalizations dipped just under 2,000 statewide as confirmed deaths increased to almost 7,500.

According to the LDH dashboard, the state added 40 new deaths and 5,413 new COVID-19 cases Sunday. Those new cases were based on 52,294 new tests, pushing the state’s total of identified cases to 346,829.

Of those, 310,957 are confirmed, with 35,872 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 Friday’s tests was 10.4 percent.

According to the update, the number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 rose to 7,873, an increase of 40 from Friday’s total of 7,833. Of those, 7,447 are confirmed, with 426 considered probable COVID-19 fatalities pending final testing. 

That rise represents an increase of 0.51 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 5,325 Sunday, an increase of 63. Of those, 4,969 are confirmed, with 356 probable. The number of deaths rose by one, to 125, with 117 confirmed and eight probable. There have been 63,738 tests performed in the parish. The seven-day average test positivity rose by 43.62 percent, from 9.3 percent on Dec. 23 to 13.5 percent on Dec. 30. The incidence of tests remained about the same, from 349.59 per 10,000 population to 348.18.

St. Martin Parish’s number of identified cases rose to 4,095, an increase of 48, with 47,702 tests performed. The seven-day average test positivity rate rose from 15.1 percent on Dec. 23 to 17.1 percent on Dec. 30, a 13.25 percent increase, while the incidence rate per 10,000 population rose from 380.45 on Dec. 23 to 460.64 on Dec. 30. The number of deaths climbed to 92, with 84 confirmed and eight probable.

In St. Mary Parish, the seven-day positivity rate rose from 7.9 percent on Dec. 23 to 10.7 percent on Dec 30,an increase of 35.44 percent. The testing incidence rate per 10,000 population increased, from 315.43 on Dec. 23 to 301.36 on Dec. 30. Total cases rose by 56, to 3,370 Sunday, after 39,320 tests. Of those cases, 2,918 are confirmed, with 452 probable. The number of COVID-19 deaths rose by one, to 104, with 97 confirmed and seven probable. 

Around the state

In Lafayette Parish, the Sunday case count rose by 224, to 18,403, with the number of tests rising to 237,575. The seven-day test positivity average rose from 11 percent on Dec. 23 to 15.5  percent as of Dec. 30, an increase of 40.91 percent. The incidence rate per 10,000 population dropped during the same period, from 348.05 to 375.65. The number of deaths rose by six, to 202, with 191 confirmed and 11 probable. 

The number of cases in Jefferson Parish rose by 682, to 35,137 on Sunday, compared to an increase of 380, to 23,117, in Orleans Parish. The latest data shows Orleans administered more tests, with 564,401, compared to 437,044 tests in Jefferson.

Jefferson Parish continues to surpass the COVID-19 death toll in Orleans Parish. Orleans Parish deaths rose by two, to 689, with 644 confirmed and 45 probable. In Jefferson Parish, the total number of deaths rose by three, to 708, with 681 confirmed and 27 probable.

Hospitalizations

The LDH reporting on hospitalizations statewide due to coronavirus infections showed 1,960 hospitalizations on Saturday, a decrease of 76 from 2,036 on Friday. The number of patients on ventilators dropped by two, to 225.

The number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in Region 4, which covers Acadiana, dropped by nine, to 211 Saturday. The number of patients on ventilators dropped by six, to 31.

Overall hospital bed occupancy in Region 4 Saturday was at 72.1 percent, with 1,221 of the region’s beds occupied and 471 available. The total number of reported beds was at 1,692.

Overall intensive care unit occupancy across Acadiana was still above 90 percent Saturday, at 93.8 percent, with 150 of 160 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 72,334 Sunday. 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 55,814, with 105 deaths, followed closely by the 40 to 49 age group, with 50,475 cases and 238 deaths, and the 50 to 59 age range with 49,967 cases, including 653 fatalities reported. 

In the 60 to 69 age group, there were 40,105 cases reported and 1,436 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 37,569. The number of deaths in that group rose to 5,406 — 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 40,273 cases total — 7,484 age 4 and under — and seven reported deaths.

Seven-day average

The state’s seven-day average of tests given as of Dec. 30 was 260.1 tests per 10,000 residents, down from 323.2 on Dec. 23. The positivity rate among those tests rose as of Dec. 30 to 13.7 percent, up from 10.1 percent on Dec. 23. 

In Region 4, the Dec. 30 testing rate was at 385.8 tests per 10,000 residents. The seven-day average percent positive of those tests was near the state average at 13.6 percent, up from 10.6 percent on Dec. 23.

According to Sunday’s update, labs in Louisiana have processed 4,661,141 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 Jan. 4, rose to 280,373. 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 remained at 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 every two weeks as of the beginning of the year, with the next update due on Jan. 13.

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.