Feds will help La. meet testing goals

Staff Report
The federal government has pledged supplies to help Louisiana reach its goal of 200,000 COVID-19 tests in May, Gov. John Bel Edwards said at his daily press conference Tuesday.
Increased testing is one key to reaching the goals set out in federal guidance on when it’s safe to ease economic restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19. The 200,000-test goal represents more than state and commercial labs have performed since testing began in Louisiana.
Adm. Brett Giroir, a Louisiana native and head of the federal Public Health Service, made the commitment to help Louisiana achieve the state’s testing goal, Edwards said.
Federal support would give Louisiana public health officials access to the swabs, transport media and reagents needed to collect samples and perform the tests.
“It’s critically important so that we can monitor what’s going on across Louisiana,” Edwards said.
Edwards was to go to Washington on Wednesday for a meeting with President Donald Trump.
“I look forward to having a substantive conversation with President Trump about Louisiana’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak, our plans to re-open additional businesses next month, and our ongoing needs as we surge our testing capacity to 200,000 tests per month beginning in May,” Edwards said in a press release.
“I am appreciative of the President’s attention to Louisiana and his support for our people during this difficult time for our state. Brighter days are ahead for Louisiana and by working together with our federal partners, I know we will get through this.”
The COVID-19 numbers released by the Louisiana Office of Public Health generally continued the trend toward fewer new positive tests, fewer hospitalizations and less ventilator usage.
The numbers were especially encouraging because they came on a Tuesday, the governor said. The results on weekends and Mondays tend to be low, followed by an uptick in the middle of the week. This time, most of the numbers stayed low.
One number didn’t stay low: the number of newly reported deaths. The OPH reported another 61 Louisiana deaths between noon Monday and noon Tuesday. The Louisiana death toll is now 1,758.
“The number of deaths is higher than we would expect it to be given the number of cases we have and the amount of transmission we have,” Edwards said.
Locally, eight new cases of COVID-19 were reported at noon Tuesday by the OPH in St. Mary, St. Martin and Assumption.
In the Tuesday report:
—One new case was reported in St. Mary for a total of 182 after 1,003 tests. The official death toll remains at 20.
—Five new cases were reported in St. Martin for a total of 226 after 1,675 tests. The death toll remains at 15.
—Two new cases were reported in Assumption for a total of 177 after 687 tests. The death toll remains at three.
Statewide:
—218 new cases were reported for a total of 27,286 after more than 150,000 tests.
—61 new deaths were reported for a total of 1,758.
—Hospitalizations were down 17 to 1,666.
—Ventilator use was down by 18 to 244.