Avoyelles has two more deaths in Thursday COVID update

Avoyelles Parish was given a small "reality pill" in the Thursday COVID update from the state. After a week with no additional deaths from the virus, the Thursday report added two to the death toll, bringing that total to 121.

The parish had only five new cases, but those positive results were out of only 35 tests. There were four in 31 molecular tests, a one-day positive rate of 12.9 percent, and one out of four rapid result tests, which is a 25 percent rate.

Had that positive rate been in a pool of 300-500 tests, there would be talk of "surge" running through the parish. The low number of tests, combined with the recent results of low positive results out of large test samples, still indicates the parish is winning its war with COVID.

It should also be remembered that "deaths" is a "trailing indicator" when monitoring the presence of COVID in a community. That simply means that the numbers in that category do not reflect the current conditions because the infection occurred several weeks ago.

The sobering news that even an enemy in retreat is dangerous could serve as a reminder to use common sense and avoid unnecessary risks.