COVID GRAPHIC

Hospital beds across Louisiana continue to fill up as the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients approaches the 3,000 mark.

The LDH report Tuesday shows 2,859 hospitalizations statewide due to the coronavirus pandemic as of Monday, up from 2,720 on Sunday. 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 6,088 new identified cases of the disease along with 93 new deaths.

The state also reported 338 patients on ventilators as of Monday, an increase of 20 from Sunday and the highest that number had been since April 19, 2020.

Region 4 hospitalizations as of Monday were at 346, an increase of five and the highest they have been during the pandemic. Of those cases, 42 are on ventilators, an increase of two and the highest since Aug. 6, 2020.

Region 4’s ICU bed occupancy is rising again according to the latest state data. As of Monday, there were nine of the 159 beds across the region available, for an occupancy rate of 94.3 percent. The overall hospital bed occupancy in Region 4 was also up slightly on Monday at 76.7 percent, with 394 of 1,692 available.

Iberia Parish was at 9,678 cases Tuesday, an increase of 166. The parish also added one death, climbing to 172. In St. Martin Parish, 57 new cases were identified, bringing the total there to 6,848. The number of deaths rose by one, to 124.

In St. Mary Parish, new cases rose to 6,911, an increase of 100, with deaths remaining at 155.

Statewide, 90 percent of new infections and 84 percent of deaths between July 21 and July 28 and 91 percent of the state’s current hospitalizations were among unvaccinated patients. 

The seven-day test positivity rates released last week showed the Teche Area numbers rising rapidly. In Iberia Parish, the seven-day positivity rate rose from 16 percent on July 21, which was adjusted upward from the 15.6 percent originally reported, to 23 percent on July 28. That marks a seven-point rise in one week.

In St. Martin Parish, the seven-day average positivity rose 3.5 points over the same period, from 20.5 to 24 percent. St. Mary Parish saw a 18.63 percent increase, from 16.1 percent to 19.1 percent.

All three parishes are well beyond the state average, which was at 15.4 percent as of July 28.

It is also important to remember that the state’s seven-day positivity rates are delayed by one week. So the numbers released today do not include the first days of Gov. John Bel Edwards’ reinstated mask mandate. 

Those figures are released weekly, with the next round scheduled to be published at noon Wednesday.

As a result of the increase in community spread of the virus, The Daily Iberian will require masks to be worn during its upcoming Best of the Teche event and recommend all attendees to observe social distance rules when possible. Masks will be provided at the door for those who do not bring their own.