Two more St. Mary COVID-19 cases; 129 La. deaths reported in a day

Two more St. Mary cases of COVID-19 were reported Tuesday by the Louisiana Office of Public Health.

The total number of positive tests for COVID-19 in the parish is now 129.

The parish death toll was still listed as two Tuesday, the same number of deaths reported since April 11. Coroner Eric Melancon said Monday that two additional deaths have occurred among residents of Franklin's Legacy Healthcare. The previous deaths occurred in New Orleans and Morgan City. Twenty-three residents and six employees have tested positive at Legacy, Melancon said.

Officials warn that the numbers reported for any 24-hour period may reflect positive tests from days earlier because of a backlog in commercial testing labs. Some cases have taken more than a day to show up in the OPH daily report.

A total of 480 St. Mary people have been tested.

In St. Martin, six new cases raised the total to 168. Another death was reported Tuesday, bringing the total to nine. A total of 551 tests have been performed.

Three new cases were reported Tuesday in Assumption, where 123 people have tested positive in 159 tests. One person has died there.

Statewide, 129 deaths were reported, the biggest one-day total yet. The death toll in Louisiana is now 1,013.

The number of COVID-19 patients grew by 502 to 21,518, but the number of hospitalized people dropped by 158 to 1,977. The number of people on ventilators also declined by 25 to 436.

“Today’s death count is the largest we have reported in a single day since this COVID-19 outbreak started and it brings the number of Louisianans we have lost to more than 1,000," Gov. John Bel Edwards said in a press release. "That’s 1,013 people who are someone’s mother, father, sister, or brother or child or aunt or uncle. They are our neighbors, friends and coworkers. They are more than just a number on a report or graph, and as our fellow Louisianans, we all grieve alongside their families.

"Our analysis shows that most deaths come 11.2 days after the onset of symptoms, which is why we must look at long-term data and trends. It is also why it is incumbent upon our people to follow the Stay at Home order, because just as the positive things we do now will save lives in the future, the negative things we do could threaten lives as well.”