St. Landry Parish, as is most of Louisiana, remains at the highest level of risk from COVID-19, according to the Louisiana Department of Health.
On Friday, 3,712 new cases and the state case count totaled 364,853. Deaths from the virus totaled 8,080 in the state.
St. Landry Parish positivity rate was up to 12.5% as of Jan. 6, up from 11.3% for the period ending Dec. 30.
As of Friday, St. Landry Parish had 7,355 total cases with 211 deaths. There have been 93,803 tests for the virus run in the parish.
There have been 661 cases in the census tracts covering Eunice.
In the Region 4, which includes Acadia, Evangeline, Iberia, Lafayette, St. Landry, St. Martin and Vermilion parishes, there are 14 available ICU beds and 147 in use. There are 1,341 hospital beds in use and 342 available.
Opelousas General Health Systems CEO Kenneth Cochran said St. Landry Parish has averaged about one death per day over the past month due to COVID-19, according to The Daily World.
Cochran told the Opelousas Board of Aldermen that he considers the COVID-19 death rate in the parish dangerous.
The state’s vaccine effort has escalated with more than 170,000 people receiving at least one shot.
The state Department of Health has published the list of participating pharmacies, along with their locations and contact information, on its website: covidvaccine.la.gov.
Locations in St. Landry Parish are Super 1 Pharmacy, 2418 S. Union St., Opelousas, Carl’s Thrifty Way Pharmacy, 2961 S. Union St., Opelousas; Lagniappe Pharmacy 6, 1717 S. Union St., Opelousas; Thrifty Way at The Cottage, 1406 W. Landry St., Opelousas; and Super 1 Pharmacy 1800 W. Laurel St., Eunice.
Other area locations include Super 1 Pharmacy, 2004 N. Parkerson Ave., Crowley; Reed’s Family Pharmacy, 1009 Sixth St., Mamou; Thrifty Way Pharmacy of Ville Platte, 1011 W. Lincoln Road, Ville Platte; and Rayne Medicine Shoppe, 913 The Boulevard, Rayne.
Another court has ruled in Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards’ favor in a lawsuit challenging his use of emergency powers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit turned back an appeal from 21 bar owners who challenged an executive order Edwards issued in July that closed barrooms for on-premise service but allowed restaurants to remain open. The bar owners argued the differential treatment violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
The Fifth Circuit agreed Wednesday with two district courts that treating bars and restaurants differently was constitutional because closing bars was “rationally related to the goal of protecting public health.” In reaching that conclusion, the courts relied heavily on the testimony of Dr. Alex Billioux, the former head of the Louisiana Office of Public Health.