Weekend COVID update for Avoyelles: seven new cases, no deaths, 226 tests

Avoyelles Parish continued its recent pattern of adding about two cases per day in its three-day report from the Louisiana Department of Health on Monday. That report found seven new cases in 226 tests, for an overall positive rate of 3 percent for the weekend report.
There were 196 lab tests with five new cases. The state uses only lab test results in determining a parish's "official" weekly positive rate. The parish's official weekly positive rate is currently 1 percent, for the seven-day period of Nov. 25-Dec. 1. The state will release a new positive rate on Wednesday (Dec. 15), based on results in the seven-day period of Dec. 2-8.
The parish's 21-month totals for the COVID pandemic, as of Monday, were 7,421 cases and 181 deaths. Of those, 5,612 infections and 163 deaths were of individuals diagnosed using lab tests. The other 1,809 cases and 18 deaths were of individuals who took a rapid response antigen test. 
  The rapid result test is considered a key weapon in early detection to help prevent the spread of the virus, but is not as accurate as a lab test.