Harlan Kirgan
COVID-19 cases are on the rise in Acadiana, but St. Landry Parish cases are stable, Dr. Tina Stefanski said at a St. Landry Parish Council meeting Wednesday.
Stefanski, state health administrator for the seven-parish Louisiana Department of Health Region 4, said early into the spread of the coronavirus, “We saw a large number of cases and deaths in this parish even compared to other parishes. Thankfully those numbers have decreased.”
St. Landry Parish’s deaths from the virus occurred primarily in nursing homes, she said.
“Nursing homes are testing, working with us to test all of their residents every week and staff,” she said.
Acadiana is experiencing an increase in cases, she said.
“I am happy to say in St. Landry Parish you are actually on a little downward trajectory over the last couple of weeks,” she said.
There is an increase in community cases in Lafayette Parish, she said.
Stefanski noted the increased availability of testing such as occurred Thursday at Eunice High School.
Health officials are monitoring emergency department visits, hospitalizations and and case counts to determine the impact of the virus, she said.
“We don’t want to end up with hospitalizations,” she said.
“We we are still trying to determine what’s the most effective treatment. There is still no tried and true proven treatment,” she said.
Health officials’ message is to slow the spread of the virus to give time to develop a vaccine and treatments, she said.
Gov. John Bel Edwards, in a news conference Thursday, reported a rise in hospitalizations in the state due to community spread.
Acadiana is an area he cited as having a steep increase in hospitalizations and cases.
The Department of Health reported 2,950 deaths from the virus to date and 48,634 cases.
There are 585 people in the hospital with COVID-19 and 83 people are ventilators.
Deaths and cases in area parishes are:
St. Landry, 393 cases, 55 deaths;
Evangeline, 100 cases, one death;
Acadia, 625 cases, 32 deaths;
Lafayette, 1,302 cases, 32 deaths;
St. Martin, 441 cases, 28 deaths; and
Avoyelles, 193 cases, 10 deaths.