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The state of Louisiana has reported more than 24,000 cases of COVID-19, according to statistics released Monday by the Louisiana Department of Health.

On Monday, the LDH reported that there had been 24,523 cases of COVID-19 reported, with 1,328 deaths. On Sunday, there had been 23,928 cases and 1,296 deaths reported.

The increase between Sunday’s statewide update and Monday’s update was an additional 595 cases and an additional 32 deaths.

Washington Parish had reported 195 cases and 11 deaths, according to the Monday update. On Sunday, the parish had reported 191 cases and 11 deaths.

There had been 1,057 cases in St. Tammany Parish, with 73 deaths, and 452 cases in Tangipahoa Parish, with 19 deaths.

The LDH said at noon Monday that there had been 6,482 tests completed by the state laboratory, and another 135,079 tests reported to the state by commercial labs — a total of 141,561 tests. There had been 141,504 tests reported in Sunday’s update. (Editor’s Note: The state had not yet reported the new number of commercial-lab tests as of noon Monday, which is why there was only an increase of 57 tests overall).

There had been 531 tests reported from Washington Parish, as of Monday’s update.

The LDH said Monday that there were 1,794 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, with 332 of those on ventilators. On Sunday, the state reported 1,748 COVID-19 patients in hospitals and 349 ventilators in use.

Monday’s release shows a positive sign that the escalation of new cases has seemingly slowed down considerably. The state broke the 12,000-case mark on April 4, so it has taken 16 days for the number of cases to double.

For comparison’s sake, it took three days to double from 6,000 cases to 12,000 cases (April 1 until April 4); and three days to double from 3,000 cases to 6,000 cases (March 29 until April 1).

The LDH releases updated statistics each day at approximately noon. For complete statistics, visit the LDH online at ldh.la.gov/coronavirus.