UPDATED 5:30 P.M.: Assumption has first COVID-19 case

Staff Report
Testing continued to show COVID-19’s spread across Louisiana on Thursday, including the first reported case in Assumption Parish. Businesses and the state government continue to make accommodations for the closures and suspensions imposed to slow the spread of the virus.
No positive tests for the virus had been reported in St. Mary or St. Martin as of 5:30 p.m. Friday. But the Louisiana Office of Public Health reported 537 positive tests in 28 parishes, more than double the number of parishes reported to have cases Thursday morning. State and commercial labs have tested more than 1,800 people. Fourteen people have died.
Positive tests, which had been concentrated in southeast and extreme northwest Louisiana, began showing up across a broader area, reaching into Acadia in the west and Rapides in central Louisiana.
Four positive tests have been reported in Lafourche, four more in Terrebonne and one in Iberia.
Also Thursday:
—Schools remained out of session. St. Mary Parish prepared to launch a feeding program Monday, and St. Martin continued a feeding program that began Wednesday (see related story).
—Gov. John Bel Edwards on Thursday signed an update to his Public Health Emergency declaration related to the COVID-19 outbreak, which waives some education requirements in the law and also suspends some laboratory requirements to speed the process of coronavirus testing, among other things.
“The pace of testing has to increase in Louisiana and this order will allow more laboratories in Louisiana to process COVID-19 tests, which is critical as our state fights the spread of this illness,” Edwards said.
Education changes in the proclamation apply to the 2019-20 school year and address suspensions to testing administration, school and district accountability, teacher evaluation, student attendance, teacher work days, and charter school application and enrollment.
Some of these suspensions will be effective only if the United States Department of Education grants a waiver of the relevant provisions of the Every Student Succeeds Act at the request of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.
—Edwards announced that small businesses in all 64 Louisiana parishes will have access to federal Small Business Administration disaster aid in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza confirmed that Louisiana’s more than 440,000 small businesses are eligible to apply for low-interest federal disaster loans, which will be made available to eligible firms suffering substantial economic injury as a result of the coronavirus.
Affected small businesses may apply for up to $2 million in working capital to pay for fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills that can’t be paid because of the COVID-19 disaster. Loan terms (3.75% interest rate for small businesses, 2.75% for nonprofits) may be extended up to 30 years to keep payments affordable.
—The St. Mary Community Action Agency and the Food for Families program will not distribute commodities on Friday, March 27. For more information, call the St. Mary CAA office at 337-828-5703. The cancellation affects distribution at Berwick Civic Center, the Amelia Recreational Center and the St. Mary CAA Office Building