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The state of Louisiana had fewer than 20 COVID-19 deaths reported for the third straight day Tuesday, marking the first such three-day streak since late March, according to statistics released Tuesday by the Louisiana Department of Health.

The state said Tuesday that there had been 35,038 cases of COVID-19 reported, with 2,458 deaths. On Monday, there had been 34,709 cases and 2,440 deaths reported.

The increase between Monday’s statewide update and Tuesday’s update was an additional 329 cases and an additional 18 deaths.

On Sunday, the state reported an additional 12 deaths, and on Monday it reported an additional 15 deaths. This was the first time the LDH has had three straight days of fewer than 20 deaths since March 24-26 (when the reports listed 12, 19, and 18 additional deaths, respectively).

For the month of May, the state has averaged 31.4 additional deaths per day. The average was 54.1 per day in April.

The LDH said at noon Tuesday that the state had 1,004 hospitalized patients, and 112 of those patients required ventilators. On Monday, the state reported 1,031 hospitalizations and 118 ventilators in use.

Washington Parish had reported 375 cases and 34 deaths, according to the Tuesday update. On Monday, the parish had reported 370 cases and 32 deaths.

There had been 1,559 cases in St. Tammany Parish, with 149 deaths (an additional five cases and two additional deaths compared to Monday), and 742 cases in Tangipahoa Parish, with 30 deaths (an additional 10 cases and no additional deaths compared to Monday).

In Tuesday’s update, the LDH said that 12,432 tests had been reported from the state laboratory, and an additional 265,641 tests had been reported from commercial laboratories — a total of 278,073 tests. The state had reported a total of 269,748 tests in Monday’s update — a difference of 8,325 tests.

The LDH reported Tuesday that there are 26,249 presumed recovered cases of COVID-19, as of its May 16 update.

A person is presumed to have recovered if:

• It has been more than 14 days, since he/she tested positive and he/she is not currently in the hospital or deceased (when hospital status is known), or
• It has been more than 21 days, since he/she tested positive and he/she is not deceased (when hospital status is unknown).

The previous report was released on May 10, with 22,608 presumed recovered cases — a difference of 3,641 additional recoveries.

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