NEW ORLEANS — Louisiana health officials released new coronavirus numbers Friday after a one-day hiatus, showing a decrease in the total number of confirmed cases across the state.
Friday, the Louisiana Department of Health said there were 48,515 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Louisiana. Wednesday, they reported 48,634.
The discrepancy comes as the state says it is overhauling the way it tracks cases.
Health officials said Thursday they would not release numbers until Friday in order to make sure the information was accurate.
According to Friday's totals, 760 new cases were reported Thursday and 787 cases were reported Friday. But 1,666 cases believed to be from out-of-state patients and duplicates of patients already counted were removed from the totals, meaning the number of cases went down.
Louisiana also reported 22 new deaths from COVID-19 since Wednesday,. At least 37,017 people are presumed to have recovered from the disease.
Health officials said the new system of tracking data will be more accurate and better for understanding the spread of the disease.
They also said that despite the correction decreasing the total, cases and hospitalizations are still increasing across the state.
“Cases are rising across Louisiana, especially but not solely in the Acadiana, Central and Southwest regions of the state. We are seeing increases in hospitalizations too,” said Dr. Alex Billioux, assistant secretary of the Office of Public Health. “These increases and decreases do not just happen. They are a direct result of our everyday actions.
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