Avoyelles' COVID rate drops; vaccination rate still trails most area parishes

Avoyelles Parish's official COVID positive rate fell below 1 percent when the new rate was reported on Wednesday.
On the other hand, the parish's vaccination rate dropped sixth among its 9-parish neighborhood.
There were 192 test results in the Wednesday report from the state health department. From this point forward, we will look at the total numbers of cases and deaths and not differentiate between those diagnosed by lab tests and by rapid result tests.
The state subtracted three cases from Avoyelles' pandemic total, bringing that number down to 4,330. The death toll remained at 123, where it has been since April 20.
The parish's official weekly positive rate for the week of June 3-9 was 0.6 percent. That is one-third of the 1.8 percent rate for the week of May 27-June 2.
Local, state and national health care experts are still urging those who have not been vaccinated to do so to provide a "firebreak" against any possible late summer surge from COVID or its variants.
Of particular concern is the Delta variant -- the strain that wreaked havoc in India. The variant is considered both more contagious and more severe than the original virus.
Research to date shows the approved vaccines are just as effective against this variant as they are for COVID-19.
Among Avoyelles and its eight adjacent neighbors, the Crossroads Parish fell to sixth in percent of population fully vaccinated, at 26.81 percent. That is better than Concordia (22.78), LaSalle (21.11) and Catahoula (19.46), just below Evangeline (26.91), and trailing Rapides (28.66), St. Landry (30.07), Pointe Coupee (37.57) and West Feliciana (47.18).
The Delta variant has not been contained to India. It is now the dominant strain of COVID in Britain, responsible for about 90 percent of infections. Not too long ago, the "British variant" was the bogeyman health experts were warning against. The new strain has resulted in surges of cases in parts of England.
Delta is responsible for more than 6 percent of COVID infections in the U.S. and up to 18 percent in the Western states. The variant has been identified in Louisiana but state officials have not indicated what share of COVID cases it makes up.