4-2-20
THE NUMBER OF CORONAVIRUS CASES IN LOUISIANA ROSE TWENTY-THREE PERCENT TO SIX THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED TWENTY FOUR. THERE WERE THIRTY-FOUR NEW DEATHS REPORTED IN THE STATE FOR A TOTAL OF TWO-HUNDRED-SEVENTY-THREE. LAFAYETTE PARISH NOW HAS THE SEVENTH HIGHEST NUMBER OF CASES IN THE STATE WITH ONE-HUNDRED FIFTY-NINE AS OF WEDNESDAY AND TWO DEATHS. IN ACADIANA OVERALL, THE NUMBER OF CASES ARE UP TWENTY-NINE PERCENT TO A TOTAL OF THREE HUNDRED EIGHTY-EIGHT. IBERIA PARISH HAS FORTY-NINE CASES AND ADDED ITS FIRST DEATH. CAROLINE MARCELLO TELLS US WHAT PARISH OFFICIALS THERE ARE DOING TO STEM THE NUMBER OF CASES.
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IN OTHER ACADIANA PARISHES, ACADIA HAS FORTY-SEVEN CORONAVIRUS CASES, ST. LANDRY PARISH HAS FORTY-FIVE AND ST. MARTIN PARISH HAS FORTY-ONE. NEXT IS ST. MARY PARISH WITH TWENTY-SIX CASES, EVANGELINE HAS ELEVEN AND VERMILLION PARISH HAS TEN. ST. MARTIN PARISH NOW ALSO HAS A PARISHWIDE CURFEW FOR ALL RESIDENTS THAT BEGINS AT TEN EACH NIGHT AND LASTS UNTIL FIVE IN THE MORNING.
SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA HAS A TOTAL OF ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-SIX CASES OF THE CORONAVIRUS, AN INCREASE OF FORTY PERCENT, BUT THERE IS JUST ONE REPORTED DEATH. CALCASIEU PARISH LEADS THE WAY WITH NINETY CASES. ALLEN PARISH IS NEXT WITH NINETEEN. THERE ARE NINE IN JEFF DAVIS PARISH AND EIGHT IN BEAUREGARD PARISHE. CAMERON PARISH STILL HAS NO CASES.
Louisiana’s nursing homes, assisted living sites and adult residential care facilities are showing more and more “clusters” of the coronavirus. But the full scale of the outbreak at those sites remains uncertain. Louisiana’s Department of Health has identified 47 long-term care facilities that it considers a cluster. That means two or more cases of the COVID-19 disease caused by the virus there appear to be connected to each other.
LAFAYETTE CONSOLIDATED GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS SAY THERE’S EVIDENCE SOCIAL DISTANCING IS MAKING A DIFFERENCE. LAFAYETTE PARISH CURRENTLY HAS A THREE-POINT-EIGHT PERCENT RATE FOR TESTS RETURNING POSITIVE AND, BY COMPARISON, EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH HAS A SEVEN-POINT-FIVE PERCENT POSITIVE TEST RATE. LAFAYETTE PARISH ALSO HAS A MUCH LOWER DEATH RATE WITH TWO DEATHS OUT OF ONE HUNDRED FIFTY-NINE CASES WHILE EAST BATON ROUGE HAS TEN DEATHS OUT OF TWO HUNDRED FORTY-NINE CASES. OFFICIALS CREDIT COMPLIANCE WITH SOCIAL DISTANCING PRACTICES AND BEING ONE OF THE FIRST IN THE STATE TO DO DRIVE THRU SCREENINGS.
OPELOUSAS GENERAL HEALTH SYSTEM IS INVITING THE PUBLIC TO A PARK AND PRAY EVENT AT THE HOSPITAL TOMORROW NIGHT. THOSE ATTENDING WILL STAY IN THEIR CARS WHILE PASTOR EUGENE REIZNER OF OUR SAVIOR’S CHURCH IN OPELOUSAS CONDUCTS THE PRAYER SERVICE. AFTERWARDS PEOPLE WILL GET OUT AND APPLAUD THE STAFF AT THE HOSPITAL AS THEY CHANGE SHIFTS. IT WILL BEGIN TOMORROW NIGHT AT SEVEN AT OPELOUSAS GENERAL’S MAIN CAMPUS PARKING LOT. IF YOU CAN’T ATTEND, THE SERVICE IS BEING BROADCAST LIVE ON THE FACEBOOK PAGES FOR THE HOSPITAL AND OUR SAVIOR’S CHURCH.
The federal Bureau of Prisons is locking inmates in their cells at all its facilities for 14 days in order to stop the spread of the coronavirus. The implementation of a new plan Wednesday comes as a focus shifts to a federal prison complex in Louisiana, where three inmates have died and nearly 20 others are hospitalized. The compound, known as FCC Oakdale, has emerged as ground zero in the federal prison system’s struggle to contain COVID-19 behind bars. The local health department told the federal government there was no need to test inmates there anymore for the coronavirus, saying those showing symptoms should just presume they have it.
