State coronavirus cases break 2,000 mark
There were 18 new coronavirus deaths and 510 new cases reported by the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals in its daily update released at noon Thursday.
Those numbers brought Louisiana’s total number of virus cases to 2,305 and the total number of deaths to 83 since the outbreak began.
One additional case has been reported in Lincoln Parish, bringing the total here to three. Thursday’s num ber of new cases rose from 400 reported on Wednesday while the number of new deaths fell by one from the 19 new deaths reported Wednesday.
As of noon Thursday, 676 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized with 239 of those requiring ventilation.
The update noted increases in Caddo Parish (additional 22 cases, bringing the total to 115) and Bossier Parish (additional 25 cases, bringing the total to 32), which the report said the Department of Health and Hospitals and Governor’s Office are monitoring closely.
Another concern the Department of Health reported is the fact that there are COVID-19 clusters in six nursing homes in the state. The five the department identified Thursday are Chateau D’Ville (Donaldsonville), Chateau De Notre Dame (New Orleans), Lambeth House (New Orleans), St. James Place (Baton Rouge) and Vista Shores (New Orleans). A COVID-19 cluster is identified as two or more cases that appear to be connected.
A release by the Department of Health said with the involvement of hospitals and multiple providers and the growth in cases of nursing home residents, going forward it will require a lag time in its reporting on specific clusters, which is why it only identified five of the six nursing homes it was concerned about.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health prob lems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death. The vast majority of people recover. But the virus is highly contagious and has caused a global pandemic.
