2 more coronavirus deaths reported in Rapides Parish

Jeff Matthews | Alexandria Town Talk

Two more deaths from coronavirus were reported in Rapides Parish on Tuesday, as the parish and region saw their biggest one-day spike in cases since the virus was first reported in Central Louisiana nearly two weeks ago.

The 28 new cases in Cenla and 14 in Rapides Parish reported in the Louisiana Department of Health's Tuesday update were both one-day highs. The state as a whole also saw a big spike Tuesday.

There are now four reported fatalities from COVID-19 in Central Louisiana — three in Rapides Parish and one in Catahoula Parish.

The first case of coronavirus was reported in the area on March 19.

"People can anticipate more cases in more parts of the state," said Dr. David Holcombe, the medical director and administrator for Region 6 of the state Office of Public Health. "Of course, it's proportional to population, and because we're rural and have a smaller population, we're not going to have the numbers some areas do. But everyone can expect to see more cases."

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Overall, there were 118 reported cases in Central Louisiana — 58 of them in Rapides Parish.

With three cases reported in Concordia Parish Tuesday, every Cenla parish has at least one case.

Other area parishes and their reported number of cases are:

Avoyelles — 19

Allen — 15

Evangeline — 10

Catahoula— 3

Vernon — 3

Grant — 2

LaSalle — 2

Natchitoches — 2

Winn — 1

Statewide, there were 5,237 cases and 239 deaths — a one-day increase of more than 1,200 cases and 54 deaths.

Holcombe said a lot of the increasing numbers is due to testing becoming more widespread.

"A lot of cases were undetected," he said. "Now that testing is flooding in, the numbers are going up. That doesn't necessarily mean more people are infected, but that's going to happen, too."

Rapides Parish coronavirus cases, March 25-31

Here's how many new cases were reported each day in Rapides Parish over the seven-day period ending Tuesday:

Wed 3/25 — 4

Thu 3/26 — 11

Fri 3/27 — 1

Sat 3/28 — 11

Sun 3/29 — 4

Mon 3/30 — 3

Tue 3/31 — 14

Cenla coronavirus cases, March 25-31

Here's the same list, but for overall cases in Rapides, Allen, Avoyelles, Catahoula, Concordia, Evangeline, Grant, LaSalle, Natchitoches, Vernon and Winn parishes:

Wed 3/25 — 7

Thu 3/26 — 17

Fri 3/27 — 6

Sat 3/28 — 16

Sun 3/29 — 7

Mon 3/30 — 14

Tue 3/31 — 28

Louisiana coronavirus cases by parish

This interactive map tracks confirmed COVID-19 cases, recoveries and deaths from around the state, nation and world.

The map is updated automatically and shows a closeup of each Louisiana parish. Or, zoom out to see numbers from around the nation and the world.

(Not seeing the map? Click here to get to our interactive Data Central page.)