Ascension Parish reported 387 additional COVID-19 cases this week – Weekly Citizen

Mike Stucka USA TODAY NETWORK| Gonzales Weekly Citizen

New coronavirus cases leaped in Louisiana in the week ending Sunday, rising 11.2% as 15,535 cases were reported. The previous week had 13,968 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.

Louisiana ranked second among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the latest week coronavirus cases in the United States decreased 4.6% from the week before, with 750,600 cases reported. With 1.4% of the country's population, Louisiana had 2.07% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, 24 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.

John Hopkins University has been collecting data from Louisiana on an erratic schedule, skewing week-to-week comparisons.

The Fourth of July holiday disrupted who got tested, when people got tested and when both test results and deaths were reported. This may significantly skew week-to-week comparisons.

Ascension Parish reported 387 cases and zero deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 294 cases and one death. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 37,068 cases and 295 deaths.

Within Louisiana, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in East Carroll Parish with 670 cases per 100,000 per week; West Carroll Parish with 600; and Bossier Parish with 564. The Centers for Disease Control says high levels of community transmission begin at 100 cases per 100,000 per week.

Adding the most new cases overall were East Baton Rouge Parish, with 1,402 cases; Caddo Parish, with 1,069 cases; and Jefferson Parish, with 1,069. Weekly case counts rose in 45 parishes from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in East Baton Rouge, Ouachita and Orleans parishes.

>> See how your community has fared with recent coronavirus cases

Across Louisiana, cases fell in 19 parishes, with the best declines in Richland Parish, with 95 cases from 160 a week earlier; in Caddo Parish, with 1,069 cases from 1,122; and in St. Mary Parish, with 125 cases from 164.

In Louisiana, 13 people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 26 people were reported dead.

A total of 1,326,364 people in Louisiana have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 17,431 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 88,593,875 people have tested positive and 1,020,861 people have died.

>> Track coronavirus cases across the United States

USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, July 10. Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:

Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:

Hospitals in 39 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 35 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 42 states admitted more COVID-19 patients in the latest week than a week prior, the USA TODAY analysis of U.S. Health and Human Services data shows.

The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control. If you have questions about the data or the story, contact Mike Stucka at mstucka@gannett.com.

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Ascension Parish reported 387 additional COVID-19 cases this week - Weekly Citizen