Louisiana’s COVID-19 numbers are remaining relatively static, but unfortunately that also applies to the number of new vaccinations, leaving the state with more than half its population still unvaccinated.

The state recorded 25 new COVID-19 deaths since Thursday, bringing the total to 14,296. The number of COVID-19 cases reported rose by 559 since Thursday, to 751,874.

Iberia Parish had logged 12,346 COVID-19 cases as of Friday, an increase of four. The parish COVID-19 death toll remained at 223. In St. Martin Parish, new cases identified brought the total there to 8,331, an increase of eight. The number of deaths remained at 160.

In St. Mary Parish, new cases rose by nine, to 8,498, with deaths rising by one, to 217.

The vaccine tracker at the Mayo Clinic shows Louisiana with 52.7 percent of its population having had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, with 46.6 percent of the residents fully vaccinated. The state has also dropped in the ranking of most vaccinated states, going from seventh at the end of summer to fifth, with Arkansas passing by on the way out of the basement.

According to Friday’s LDH data, the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients statewide dropped to 456 Thursday, a decrease of 16 from 472 on Wednesday. Data showed the number of patients on ventilators dropped by five, to 80.

In Region 4, which encompasses the Acadiana area, hospitalizations dropped by one after rising for three days in a row, falling to 51 Thursday. The region’s number of ventilator cases remained at eight for the sixth straight day.

Those numbers are still commensurate with the COVID patient load the region saw from March through July of this year, when COVID-19 hospitalizations ranged from 30 to 60 on any given day until the Delta variant surge drove infections, hospitalizations and deaths through the roof, nearly doubling any one of the three previous spikes in the pandemic here.

Region 4’s ICU bed occupancy was at 140 Thursday. There were 28 ICU beds available across the seven-parish area. That put the percentage of occupied ICU beds at 83.3 percent.

In Region 3, which stretches from St. Mary Parish east to Lafourche and north to St. Charles, 45 of 54 ICU beds were occupied as of Thursday. To the west, where Region 5 encompasses the area from Allen, Jefferson Davis and Cameron parishes to the Texas-Louisiana state line, 39 of 83 reported ICU beds were available.

The overall hospital bed occupancy in Region 4 was down slightly, at 75.7 percent Thursday, with 411 of 1,692 beds available.

As of Oct. 6, unvaccinated individuals account for 84 percent of the new cases and 80 percent of the deaths from COVID-19, while the unvaccinated account for 82 percent of the current hospitalized cases.

As of Oct. 6, the state’s seven-day COVID-19 test percent positivity was at 3.1 percent, down from 3.7 percent on Sept. 29.

In Iberia Parish, the seven-day test positivity average was twice that, at 3.6 percent on Oct. 6, down half from 7.3 percent on Sept. 29. In St. Martin Parish, the percentage dropped to 3.8 percent on Oct. 6, down from 4.5 percent on Sept. 29. St. Mary Parish saw a 23 percent decrease, from 4.9 percent on Sept. 29 to 5.1 percent on Oct. 6.

New seven-day test positivity rates are released each Wednesday for the week ending seven days prior.