State cases rise to 36,504; 62 percent of the new cases of today are from reporting backlog
May 21, 2020
President Chaisson Activates Debris Removal Contract
May 21, 2020
The following is a press release from the Louisiana Department of Heath:
Today, the Department reports 1,188 new cases. Of those, 682 (62%) are from 23 labs that are reporting cases electronically to LDH for the first time, with cases stretching as far back as March 25. These labs previously have not reported and are now reporting all their historical lab results electronically.
This means 506 of the 1,188 newly reported cases come from the rest of the regular reporting across the state.
While all 1,188 cases are added to LDH’s dashboard today, historical cases are reallocated back to their respective dates and shared in the “date of onset of symptoms” visualization on the dashboard.
The percent positivity—the percentage of total tests that return positive—on all lab results was 6.1%.
“While this is the biggest single increase in cases we have seen since April 9, it is important to understand the context,” said Dr. Alex Billioux, the assistant secretary of the Office of Public Health. “Not only are there cases here dating back to late March, but we also have increased testing. That only 6.1% of all these test results are positive is a good sign. Our goal is to keep that number below 10%, the goal set by the federal government.”
“We believe we are beginning to see the impact of comprehensive testing across congregate settings and workplace outbreaks. This is what suppression of COVID-19 looks like—and it is critical to moving our state forward,” Dr. Billioux said.
The Department expects to see higher case counts in the coming days while ramping up testing in congregate settings.
