Friday COVID update for Avoyelles: 695 tests, 76 cases, one death

Friday's update from the state was disheartening, but not the shocker that hit Avoyelles Parish last Friday when there was over 100 new cases or Thursdays with three additional deaths.

The report from the state health department was in line with a recent trend of a large number of tests, more rapid result tests than had been seen earlier in the pandemic, a high double-digit increase in new cases, an overall positive rate of over 10 percent and another death.

Friday's report reviewed 695 tests with 76 new cases and one death. Avoyelles pandemic totals as of Friday were 5,418 cases and 135 deaths since March 2020. The state totals on Friday were 614,776 cases and 11,519 deaths. The one-day totals for the state were 7,548 new cases and 57 deaths reported since the Thursday report. There were 2,907 COVID victims hospitalized with 399 fighting for their lives on ventilators.