Four-day COVID update adds 40 cases, one death to Avoyelles Parish totals

For the first time in well over a month, Avoyelles Parish had what could be considered a relatively "good report" in its COVID-19 update from the state.

With 1,412 test results over the four-day period covering Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday reports, Avoyelles had only 40 new cases of COVID and one additional death. The overall positive rate for the report was 2.8 percent -- the lowest the parish has had since the "fourth wave" crashed ashore in mid-July. That is is significantly better than had been feared. With the parish's per-day rate in the 40-to-50 range recently, a 150-case increase with multiple deaths was considered likely.

In addition to that positive news on the local level, the number of COVID victims in hospitals dropped from 2,254 on Friday to 2,003 on Tuesday. Part of that 251 decrease is due to the 72 additional deaths from COVID complications in the Tuesday report, but it also reflects a drop in the number of new hospitalizations.

Of course, with this pandemic one can never assume the virus is in retreat or that victory is in sight. The parish could be rocked by a triple-digit increase in cases and double-digit addition to the death toll at any time. However, the parish is due for at least one small sunbeam to break through the COVID cloud cover.

At this time almost 35 percent of Avoyelles Parish residents have been fully vaccinated and another 8 percent have received at least one dose of a two-dose immunization. That 43 percent level of having at least one COVID vaccination actually exceeds the parish's average of 41 percent who receive the flu vaccine on an annual basis.

As of Tuesday, Avoyelles' almost 18-month totals were 6,550 infections and 149 deaths. The state totals were 702,432 cases and 12,779 deaths