State reports lowest ventilator use since March 25

Published 12:00 pm Friday, May 1, 2020

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The state of Louisiana reported just 230 COVID-19 patients on ventilators Friday, its lowest number in that category since late March, according to statistics released Friday by the Louisiana Department of Health.

On Friday at noon, the LDH reported that the state had 1,607 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 230 of those patients required ventilators. On Thursday, the state had reported 1,601 hospitalized patients and 231 ventilators in use.

The number of ventilators in use is at its lowest count since March 25, when there were 193 ventilators reported as in use. The state’s peak so far was on April 4, when there were 571 ventilators reported as in use.

On Friday, the LDH said that there had been 28,711 cases of COVID-19 reported, with 1,927 deaths. On Thursday, there had been 28,001 cases and 1,862 deaths reported.

The increase between Thursday’s statewide update and Friday’s update was an additional 710 cases and an additional 65 deaths.

Washington Parish had reported 273 cases and 21 deaths, according to the Friday update. On Thursday, the parish had reported 262 cases and 18 deaths.

There had been 1,270 cases in St. Tammany Parish, with 112 deaths (an additional 50 cases and an additional two deaths compared to Thursday), and 565 cases in Tangipahoa Parish, with 23 deaths (an additional 12 cases and an additional single death compared to Thursday).

There had been 1,485 COVID-19 tests reported from Washington Parish, as of Friday’s update.

The state has also begun reporting the number of “presumed recovered” cases. Its first update was on April 22, when it reported 14,927 such cases. Friday’s report listed 17,303 presumed reported cases as of April 26 (Sunday).

After a recent review of its statistics, the state has also resumed reporting statewide testing numbers. On Friday, the LDH reported 8,061 tests had been completed by the state laboratory, and an additional 160,190 tests had been reported from commercial laboratories — a total of 168,251 tests. The state reported a total of 161,309 tests in Thursday’s report.

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