As the first batch of 200,000 coronavirus testing kits a month is reaching the state, Louisiana health officials are working on wide-scale testing at nursing homes and prisons.
Dr. Alex Billioux, a top Louisiana Department of Health official, said many nursing homes have already begun testing all their residents to limit the number of deaths in their facilities, which have been rocked by the virus.
The death toll from the virus has continued to mount at nursing homes across the state. On Monday, the Health Department reported 688 deaths at nursing homes, more than a third of the state’s 1,991 coronavirus-related deaths.
In Acadiana, 55 percent of the COVID-19 deaths — 80 out of 147 — have been nursing home residents.
There are 37 nursing homes in Acadiana.
For much of the past two months, the state Health Department has advised against testing asymptomatic people, but with revised guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, the agency is now moving toward implementing mass testing.
The testing won’t be a mandate, Billioux said, but will instead come in the form of guidance that he said he expects nursing homes will follow.
He also said the state wants to expand testing to the entire prison population in Louisiana and is working with the state’s Department of Corrections.
Gov. John Bel Edwards said the state received its first 13,000 testing swabs from the federal government as part of its commitment to provide Louisiana with 200,000 test kits a month, though the state will be on the hook for some components of the tests.
If that total comes through, Louisiana will be in a position to test about 4.3 percent of its population a month. The federal government has advised states to have the ability to test at least 2 percent of its population per month.
On Tuesday, LDH reported 29,996 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the state. This includes 323 additional cases than were reported Monday.
A total of 2,042 people have died of the disease in Louisiana. This includes 51 more deaths than were reported Monday.
The LDH also reported that 1,512 people are hospitalized — 10 more than Monday— and that 194 require ventilators — six fewer than Monday.
Acadia Parish reported two additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 since Monday, bringing the total to 136.
For the sixth consecutive day, 10 deaths linked to the virus have been reported in Acadia Parish.
The governor said he will consider the possibility of loosening restrictions across the state by region on May 15 if certain areas of the state continue to fall short of federal benchmarks for reopening. But he also sounded optimistic that with the influx of tests, the state will be in a better position to enter phase one of the reopening on May 16 than it was May 1, when he initially hoped to reopen.
In order to reopen safely, health experts say the state needs to tamp down the number of cases and boost the number of tests and contact tracers to the point where officials can quickly identify new cases and isolate the infected and those they came into contact with.
An announcement on whether the state will enter that first phase of reopening on May 16 is expected Monday, May 11.
Area Parishes
May 5 / La. Dept. of Health
• Acadia - 136 cases, 10 deaths (up from 134 cases, 10 deaths on Monday)
• Evangeline - 63 cases, 1 death (up from on Monday)
• Iberia -274 cases, 23 deaths (up from 270 cases, 23 deaths on Monday)
• Jeff Davis - 65 cases, 6 deaths (same as Monday)
• Lafayette - 473 cases, 20 deaths (up from 468 cases, 20 deaths on Monday)
• St. Landry - 198 cases, 47 deaths (up from 191 cases, 45 deaths on Monday)
• St. Martin - 247 cases, 19 deaths (up from 244 cases, 18 deaths on Monday)
• St. Mary - 212 cases, 23 deaths (up from 209 cases, 23 deaths on Monday)
• Vermilion - 40 cases, 1 death (up from 38 cases, 1 death on Monday)