The number of reported coronavirus-related deaths in Louisiana pushed above a grim milestone Tuesday after the Louisiana Department of Health said more than 1,000 people have died after being infected by the virus.

The health department added 129 deaths to the tally on Tuesday, the biggest single-day increase in reported deaths since the outbreak began in the state. Louisiana has now seen 1,013 coronavirus-related deaths.

The latest state data appears to show the death toll from the virus may be accelerating outside of New Orleans and Jefferson Parish, the early epicenters of the outbreak in Louisiana.

Tuesday's figures also track a surge in the growth of cases at the beginning of the month.

Experts urge caution when trying to interpret single-day increases or decreases, both because of the wide swings that can come when looking at day-to-day numbers and because of delays in reporting. In Louisiana those delays have been particularly pronounced on weekends, an effect that may have been further exacerbated by Good Friday.

A prepared statement from Gov. John Bel Edwards said not all the deaths occurred in the past 24 hours.

Still, the toll nevertheless offered a sobering look at the continued loss of life from COVID-19 even as other data on cases and hospitalizations suggest Louisiana might be seeing some signs of hope in its fight against the virus.

"That’s 1,013 people who are someone’s mother, father, sister, or brother or child or aunt or uncle. They are our neighbors, friends and coworkers," said Edwards in the statement. "They are more than just a number on a report or graph, and as our fellow Louisianans, we all grieve alongside their families."

Some trends appear to be emerging over the past few weeks.

The total number of deaths reported outside of New Orleans and Jefferson Parish exceeded the number within those two parishes for the first time on Saturday. The state's 62 other parishes have exceeded the number of deaths reported in New Orleans and Jefferson toll on five of the past seven days, suggesting that the virus' toll is now shifting to other areas of the state.

While Orleans and Jefferson still reported the largest numbers of new deaths on Tuesday, with a total of 56 reported between them, others are seeing large increases as well.

Caddo Parish reported 17 new deaths on Monday, its highest total since the outbreak began. Eight new deaths were reported in St. John the Baptist, which had gone several days with relatively few deaths despite having one of the highest per-capita mortality rates in the country.

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East Baton Rouge reported new deaths and St. Tammany reported six, numbers roughly in line with those they have reported over the past week.

The tragic increase in the number of lives cut short by the coronavirus is not entirely unexpected given the trajectory the virus has taken in Louisiana and may not be a sign that the state is on a more dire course. While still grim, trends in the growth of cases and increases in deaths had appeared to be steadying over the past week. The numbers reported Monday appear to be a reflection of the course the virus took toward the end of last month than any new surge in cases.

Louisiana's confirmed cases of coronavirus rose to 21,518 on Tuesday, which was a 502 case increase from Monday's report. That's among the smallest increases since the start of the outbreak.

Daily case counts often reflect positive results from tests administered several days prior.

State officials said on Tuesday that it typically takes about 11 days from the time the first symptoms are reported until the day a patient succumbs to the virus. Louisiana saw a surge of new cases at the beginning of the month and the number of new cases have leveled off since.

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That appears to be reflected in the numbers being reported on Tuesday, roughly two weeks after that spike.

The number of hospitalized patients fell by 157 and the number of patients needing a ventilator dropped by 25. There are now 1,977 hospitalized coronavirus patients in Louisiana and 436 of those patients are on a ventilator.

Orleans Parish reported 32 new deaths and 67 new cases on Thursday. Jefferson Parish reported 24 new deaths and 100 new cases.

The Louisiana Department of Health releases updated coronavirus data every day at noon here.

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This report will be updated.

MORE DATA BELOW

LOUISIANA CORONAVIRUS NUMBERS AS OF TUESDAY (NOON)

(numbers from Monday in parentheses)

Diagnosed cases: 21,518 (21,016)

Known coronavirus-related deaths: 1,013 (884)

Hospitalized coronavirus patients: 1,977 (2,134)

Hospitalized coronavirus patients on ventilators: 436 (461)

Parishes with diagnosed cases: 64 of 64 (no change)

Total state tests completed: 5,681 (5,589)

Total commercial tests reported: 112,741 (102,502)

DEATHS, CASES ACROSS NEW ORLEANS METRO AREA AS OF TUESDAY