Avoyelles update for 11-3: 18 new cases, 545 test results = 3.3% positive

Those looking only at Avoyelles Parish's number of new cases in the daily COVID update would be concerned with a return to double-digit increase in today's report from the state health department. Taking a closer look at the report shows that "bad news" is actually "good news."

The parish had 18 new cases, but it came from a batch of 545 test results. That represents a 3.3 percent positive rate for what is one of the largest groups of tests in recent weeks. This report will go a long way in offsetting some recent reports with only a few new cases but in a very low number of tests.

Avoyelles' pandemic totals as of Tuesday are 1,774 cases, 62 deaths and 29,595 tests. The state's totals are 184,769 cases, 5,737 deaths and over 2.8 million tests.