Louisiana saw a dramatic jump in the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 from Tuesday to Wednesday, but there’s an explanation.
On Wednesday, the Louisiana Department of Health reported 32,662 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state. This includes 612 additional cases than were reported on Tuesday.
A statement from state health officials explained the increase: “Today, the Department reports 612 new cases, of which 317 came from labs that are new to reporting. These labs previously have not reported and are now reporting all their historic lab results electronically.
“This means 295 of the 612 new cases came from the rest of the regular reporting across the state. We expect to see more labs across the state onboarding in a similar fashion as we work to quickly ramp up testing across the state and ensure the state has the most comprehensive data on testing.”
Wednesday’s LDH report also includes 34 additional virus-related deaths in the state, bringing that total to 2,315 since the outbreak began.
In Acadia Parish, one confirmed case was removed from the totals. To date, the parish has recorded 151 cases of COVID-19 with 11 confirmed deaths.
LDH reported Wednesday that 1,320 people are hospitalized and that 146 require ventilators.