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Amid positive Louisiana trends, unexpectedly high death rate

Officials said Friday that deaths from the virus in Louisiana are outpacing Louisiana officials’ own modeling.

Credit: AP

Mourners looks through the funeral program for Leona 'Ms. Chine' Grandison, who tested positive for coronavirus when she passed away at the age of 69, across the street from the Charbonnet-Labat-Glapion funeral home in the Treme neighborhood of New Orleans, La. Friday, April 24, 2020. A socially distanced funeral service with limited family members followed. Friends and extended family gathered across the street. (Max Becherer/The Advocate via AP)

BATON ROUGE, La. — Even amid positive trends in Louisiana’s coronavirus outbreak, officials are grappling with a state death rate from the virus that appears higher than other states.

Officials said Friday that deaths from the virus in Louisiana are outpacing Louisiana officials’ own modeling.

Louisiana’s number of known coronavirus infections has increased by about 400. The number surpassed 2,600 Friday as the state continues efforts to increase testing.

The death toll increased by about 60, surpassing 1,600. But hospitalizations continued to drop, falling below 1,700 Friday after peaking at 2,134 earlier this month.

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