Thursday COVID update for Avoyelles: 56 new cases, 1 more death

The "fourth wave" kept crashing ashore in Avoyelles Parish Thursday with 56 new cases and another COVID-related death added to its 17-month pandemic totals. The COVID Act Now online COVID monitoring site upgraded Avoyelles to "severe risk" -- its highest level -- up from high.

The state health department reviewed 740 COVID tests in Thursday's update. There were 25 positive cases out of of 577 lab tests and 31 out of 163 rapid result tests. The latest death had been diagnosed with COVID by rapid result. As of Thursday, the parish's pandemic totals were 4,948 infections and 129 deaths. Of those, 4,115 cases and 119 deaths had been confirmed as COVID-related by molecular lab tests and 833 cases and 10 deaths were categorized as "probable for COVID" using the rapid result antigen tests.

The state pandemic totals as of Thursday were 567,787 cases and 11,162 deaths. Thursday's one-day totals were 5,468 cases and 33 deaths. There were 2,350 victims hospitalized with 258 of those on ventilators.

COVID Act Now's analysis of Avoyelles Parish's current statistics includes determining the infection rate at 1.41. Act Now said this means the virus is quickly spreading. That infection rate means each person with COVID is infecting 1.4 people. If that rate is accurate, it would mean the 56 new cases reported Thursday would infect almost 79 more people and those 79 people would infect 110.

Act Now pointed out that almost 66 percent of the parish's population has received not even one dose of a vaccine. That includes children still not eligible to be vaccinated.