NEW ORLEANS — New numbers from the Louisiana Department of Health Sunday show a slight decrease in the number of hospitalizations and patients on ventilators, and a sharp decline in the number of deaths reported from Saturday.
The LDH reported 19 new deaths, 183 new cases and 3,715 new tests performed since Saturday.
Friday's totals also had 19 new deaths, but Saturday's total was more than twice the previous day's number, with 40 deaths reported.
As Governor Edwards has often said though, the numbers on any one given day don't necessarily mean that all the new cases or the newly reported deaths happened the day before. Sometimes they occur with a backlog of tests that have come in or been reported.
Sunday's number, even with the caveat that weekend reporting is often lower than mid-week results, is more in line with the reduced daily death toll Louisiana has been seeing in recent days.
The week has been a good one for Louisiana's coronavirus outlook, with Friday bringing the second-largest improvement in hospital capacity since April 18.
Hospitalizations peaked in Louisiana on April 13.
There are now 31,600 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the state, 2,213 deaths, 1,324 people in the hospital for the virus and 16` patients on ventilators.
215,872 tests have been performed, meaning about 4.6% of Louisiana's population has been tested.
Friday, Gov. John Bel Edwards gave more details about how the state would use contact tracing to determine people who may have been in contact with the virus and have them self-quarantine as the state begins to reopen later in May.
Edwards said he would announce Monday whether he would allow his statewide stay at home order to expire on May 15 or extend it again.
Republican state lawmakers have been putting pressure on the Democratic governor to allow businesses to reopen, and the governor's remarks Friday indicated the daily coronavirus trends in the state were leaning towards a gradual reopening starting on May 16.
Dr. Alex Billioux, the Assistant Secretary of Health for the Louisiana Department of Public Health, said that aggressive contact tracing is crucial to allowing the state to reopen safely.
Billioux said that contact tracers would be asking someone who tested positive to give them a list of people they have come in contact with and where they have been.
The city of New Orleans is planning to help the contact tracers by requiring businesses to keep records of who shops at their stores.
Mayor LaToya Cantrell said earlier this week businesses, when they reopen after her administration's stay at home order expires on May 16, will need to keep a list of every person who enters the store.
Cantrell said this process, along with wearing masks when going out and other changes, was "part of the new normal."
Latest Numbers:
- 2,213 deaths (+19)
- 31,600 total cases (+183)
- 1,324 patients in hospitals (-7)
- 161 patients on ventilators (-4)
- 64 of 64 parishes reporting cases
- 20,316 presumed recoveries* Number not updated since May 2
- 215,715 tests performed (+3,715)
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