Iberville Parish reports 18 new COVID cases; Louisiana cases surge 117.2%
New coronavirus cases leaped in Louisiana in the week ending Sunday, rising 117.2% as 3,738 cases were reported. The previous week had 1,721 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.
Louisiana ranked 48th among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the latest week coronavirus cases in the United States increased 67.6% from the week before, with 843,458 cases reported. With 1.4% of the country's population, Louisiana had 0.44% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, 48 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.
Thanksgiving significantly disrupted who got tested, how many people got tested, what labs operated and what government agencies reported on time. Some governments reported three days of data for Thanksgiving week; some reported none. The reporting of many cases and deaths were shifted from Thanksgiving's week into last week, making Thanksgiving week artificially low and the latest week artificially high, skewing the week-to-week comparison. These numbers are unreliable even as they're accurate to what states reported.
Iberville Parish reported 18 cases and zero deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported two cases and zero deaths. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 5,893 cases and 128 deaths.
Within Louisiana, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Tensas Parish with 623 cases per 100,000 per week; West Carroll Parish with 443; and Union Parish with 308. The Centers for Disease Control says high levels of community transmission begin at 100 cases per 100,000 per week.
Adding the most new cases overall were St. Tammany Parish, with 272 cases; Jefferson Parish, with 248 cases; and East Baton Rouge Parish, with 232. Weekly case counts rose in 56 parishes from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in St. Tammany, Jefferson and Caddo parishes.
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Louisiana ranked 46th among states in share of people receiving at least one shot, with 54.8% of its residents at least partially vaccinated. The national rate is 68.8%, a USA TODAY analysis of CDC data shows. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which are the most used in the United States, require two doses administered a few weeks apart.
In the week ending Thursday, Louisiana reported administering another 102,149 vaccine doses, including 25,530 first doses. In the previous week, the state administered 64,286 vaccine doses, including 11,803 first doses. In all, Louisiana reported it has administered 5,081,041 total doses.
Across Louisiana, cases fell in three parishes, with the best declines in Assumption Parish, with 4 cases from 9 a week earlier; in Bienville Parish, with 3 cases from 7; and in LaSalle Parish, with 6 cases from 8.
In Louisiana, 49 people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 28 people were reported dead.
A total of 772,789 people in Louisiana have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 14,826 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 49,085,361 people have tested positive and 788,363 people have died.
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Louisiana's COVID-19 hospital admissions rising
USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, Dec. 5.
- Last week: 313
- The week before that: 286
- Four weeks ago: 271
- Last week: 88,233
- The week before that: 76,364
- Four weeks ago: 68,138
Hospitals in 33 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 28 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 45 states admitted more COVID-19 patients in the latest week than a week prior, the USA TODAY analysis of U.S. Health and Human Services data shows.
The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control. If you have questions about the data or the story, contact Mike Stucka at mstucka@gannett.com.