Friday COVID update for Avoyelles: three new cases, no additional deaths

Avoyelles Parish had a "normal" day in its war with COVID-19 with Friday's update from the state health department.

The Friday report showed 269 total test results, with 249 molecular tests having three positive results and 20 rapid result tests with no new cases of COVID. There were no additional deaths reported.

The snapshot positive rate for this report of just over 1 percent is almost half the parish's official weekly report of 1.8 percent. However, one-day reports -- both those providing hope of victory and those with higher numbers -- are not good indicators of a parish's status. That is why the state uses a seven-day total.

As of Friday, Avoyelles has had 4,178 diagnosed cases of COVID-19 with 3,653 confirmed by lab tests and 525 deemed "probable" based on rapid results tests. The state uses only the lab test results to determine a parish's weekly positive rate. There have been 123 COVID-related deaths, with 115 "confirmed" for COVID and eight "probable."

The state pandemic totals on Friday were 458,581 cases and 10,382 deaths.