Gov.: Omicron may be peaking, but there's still lots of COVID in La.

Parish-by-parish COVID statistics returned to the Office of Public Health website Thursday, the same day when Gov. John Bel Edwards said the omicron-fueled fifth surge may be showing signs of peaking.

As of Thursday, St. Mary Parish has recorded 10,908 COVID-19 cases during the pandemic. That number has increased 764 since Jan. 10.

The parish's pandemic death toll is now at 238. Eight St. Mary people have died of COVID-related causes in January.

Statewide, 14,706 new cases were reported Thursday along with 37 deaths.

The number of COVID-positive people in Louisiana hospitals remains high at 2,367, but the growth has slowed. The number of COVID patients on ventilators is down slightly at 142.

The positivity rate on COVID tests is down slightly to about 27%, said Public Health Officer Dr. Joseph Kanter, appearing with Edwards at a press conference.

He encouraged people to protect themselves with masks, preferably the N-95-style masks, and to get vaccinations and boosters.

Kanter pointed to troubling signs even as the growth in cases slow. The incidence rate -- an average number of daily new cases for a week for each 100,000 people in the population -- remains at 1,800. Centers for Disease Control guidelines put a parish in the high risk category if the incidence rate is 100 or more.

Louisiana has seen six COVID deaths among people 18-29 in January. That age group has accounted for 117 COVID deaths since the pandemic began.

Another 8,735 new COVID cases were reported among K-12 students last week alone, Kanter said. Some schools have returned to remote learning because of staffing shortages.

The highest number of pediatric hospitalizations is among children 4 and younger.

New cases among nursing home residents, a population with a high vaccination rate, are on the rise, Kanter said.