Parish officials believe there are 23 COVID cases in St. Mary

St. Mary Parish officials believe the parish has 23 positive cases of COVID-19, one more than the 22 that the state’s Office of Public Health reported as of noon Tuesday.
St. Mary Parish Coroner Dr. Eric Melancon said at a press conference Tuesday that tests are done in a doctor’s office are considered “preliminary positive” until confirmed by the Office of Public Health. The number that is released by state Office of Public Health only includes confirmed tests.
“That is pretty much the discrepancy in the makeup from what is published by the state and what we’re actually getting on the inside,” Melancon said.
Despite the discrepancy, Parish President David Hanagriff said that the state’s number still should be followed.
Regardless of whether the test is “preliminary positive” or “presumptive positive” it is still considered a positive test, Melancon said.
Melancon said the parish has had 13 positive tests through Ochsner St. Mary and 10 positive tests through Franklin Foundation.
Of those positives tests, just 2-3 people parish wide are hospitalized with the virus, Melancon said. He said one patient is at Franklin Foundation, and one or two others are at Ochsner St. Mary.
While the parish has not had any deaths from COVID-19, Melancon expects there to have some despite medical personnel’s efforts.
Hanagriff also announced at the press conference that he doesn’t expect there to be a curfew instituted in the unincorporated areas of St. Mary Parish.
Earlier Tuesday, the City of Patterson announced it was instituting a dusk-to-dawn curfew, effective Wednesday.