A good day for Avoyelles in COVID news

With a hurricane headed its way, with the prospects -- if not the promise -- of widespread power outages, wind damage and heavy rains, Avoyelles Parish still had reason to celebrate some good news in the Friday update on COVID numbers from the state health department.

Although the parish had one more COVID-related death in the Friday report, it had only seven new cases in 321 test results, for a one-day positivity rate of almost 2.2 percent.

This report came just a few hours after the parish was told it was being given credit for having two consecutive weeks with less than 5 percent positivity, making it eligible for the parish governing authority to allow bars in the parish to open, as long as they comply with several COVID-control measures. The Avoyelles Parish Police Jury approved a resolution at a special meeting Thursday to authorize Jury President Kirby Roy to "opt in" the local bars upon final approval of the state Alcohol and Tobacco Control department. That confirmation came Friday morning.

The parish's numbers actually put the positive rate at 5.1 percent for the week of Sept. 24-30, after having 3.7 percent positive the week before. The Phase 3 guidelines require a parish to have two weeks of less than 5 percent to be eligible for reduced restrictions. The state decided to remove some COVID cases in Raymond Laborde Correctional Center in Cottonport that occurred during the "5.1 percent" week. That was enough to put the parish's adjusted positive rate below 5 percent.

The parish's pandemic totals as of Friday were 1617 cases, 59 deaths and 25,098 tests.

The state's pandemic totals as of Friday were 170,878 cases, 5,442 deaths and 2,447,559 tests.