Midweek update for Avoyelles: 13 new cases, no additional deaths

Avoyelles had another double-digit increase in cases Wednesday, with 13 COVID-positive results out of 341 tests. This follows Tuesday's results of 11 new cases in 122 cases.

However, the Wednesday-to-Wednesday review of the parish's totals reports 51 new cases, well under 10-a-day for that period.

The state released its official weekly positive rates Wednesday, and Avoyelles once again improved -- but not by much -- over its previous rate. For the period of Sept. 23-29, the parish's lab test results reported 2.7 percent positive. For the seven-day period of Sept. 16-22 that rate was 2.8 percent. The state does not include rapid result antigen tests in computing a parish's positive rate.

In looking at the Wednesday-to-Wednesday positive rates, the overall rate was 3.2 percent. When broken down into the two types of tests, the lab test positive rate was 2.2 percent and the RRT positive rate was 9.1 percent.

Rapid result tests are considered less accurate than lab tests, but are also more often given to people exhibiting COVID symptoms or who know they have been exposed to the virus. It can take two or three days to get the results of a lab test while rapid antigen test results are ready in less than an hour.

As of Wednesday, Avoyelles' pandemic totals were 6,986 cases and 175 deaths. Statewide the totals were 745,571 cases and 14.152 deaths.