Avoyelles Friday COVID update: 28 new cases, one death

One might almost be tempted to be optimistic based on the Friday update of COVID-19 in Avoyelles Parish. Almost.

The Louisiana Department of Health numbers for today showed only 28 new cases out of 772 tests. That 328 more tests and four fewer cases than in Thursday's report and 665 more tests and nine fewer cases than Wednesday's update.

Health officials have encouraged more testing in communities to identify and isolate those infected with coronavirus, thus reducing the spread of the disease. In the past, more tests meant more new cases with spikes over 50 in one day. To have more tests and fewer cases could -- best case scenario -- mean there is less COVID to identify. The cynic would counter by saying the one-day reports are, literally, "luck of the draw" and a really bad update could be just a day away.

In the Friday update, Avoyelles had 25 positive cases in 743 molecular tests -- deemed "confirmed" by health department guidelines -- and three diagnosed positive among 29 rapid result antigen tests (labeled "probable" by the state). The positive rate for all of the day's test results was 3.6 percent. The positive rate for the molecular tests was just under 3.4 percent.

The death toll increased by one, raising it to 103 total COVID-related deaths (98 confirmed, 5 probable).

The state's totals since March are 380,255 cases (334,769/45,486) and 8,483 deaths (7,864/519)