A normal day for Avoyelles: three COVID cases in 143 tests

It was a fairly nondescript day for Avoyelles Parish in the Thursday COVID update from the state. There was nothing to raise hopes or to raise fears. It is perhaps a very telling thing when we have to say it was "normal."

There were 143 test results in the Thursday report from Louisiana Department of Health. There were three positives, all found in the 124 lab test results. There were no additional COVID-related deaths.

The 14-month pandemic totals for Avoyelles are 4,246 cases (3,696 lab tests, 550 rapid result tests) and 123 deaths (115/8). The state's totals were 467,475 cases (395,882 lab, 71,593 rapid result) and 10,517 deaths (9,552/965).

Lab tests have diagnosed an overwhelming majority of COVID-19 cases in the state and in Avoyelles. The rapid result test did not enter the arsenal of weapons against the virus until late 2020. Approximately 82 percent of the state's identified cases, including almost 91 percent of fatalities, were diagnosed with a molecular lab test. tests for COVID-19. That tool has been less used in Avoyelles, where 87 percent of cases, including 93.5 percent of those who died, have been diagnosed by molecular lab tests.

Rapid result tests -- also called antigen tests -- have been criticized as being less reliable than lab tests. They can yield "false positives," although supporters say that rate is very low. Supporters claim rapid result tests are the best weapon against the spread of COVID because a person taking the test knows within an hour if they are -- or may be -- contagious and can take action to avoid contaminating others. The lab test results may not be known for several days. In the early weeks of the pandemic, results some times were not reported until two weeks, by which time the virus would have run its course and the victim be recovered.