The number of known coronavirus cases in Louisiana increased to 2,305 on Thursday, up 510 cases from Wednesday and now on a pace to double every three days as cases outside the New Orleans area continued to climb and hospitals saw additional strain.

Thursday's statistics from the state Department of Health showed that the number of patients currently hospitalized because of the virus is growing at a faster rate than new cases are being identified.

There were 676 coronavirus patients in hospital beds on Thursday and 239 of them needed to be on ventilators. The number of hospitalized patients surged by nearly 38% in a day — an increase of 185 patients — and the number of people on ventilators increased by 76, a roughly 46% jump over Wednesday's numbers.

Louisiana has almost 2,750 ventilators statewide, but Edwards has said the state is looking to obtain almost 2,000 more.

“Our ventilator capacity is far from OK in Louisiana,” Edwards said Wednesday, noting that state projections showed there could be a critical shortage of those devices in the New Orleans area by the first week of April.

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That 510 case increase on Thursday marks the biggest single-day spike for Louisiana. In the last four days there have been 1,468 new cases as testing accelerates and more results are reported.

There have now been 83 known coronavirus-related deaths in the state.

There are now only 11 parishes that have not had a resident test positive for the coronavirus. Most of those are rural parishes along the state's border with Mississippi.

LDH releases the latest numbers on coronavirus in Louisiana at noon daily.

The New Orleans-area remains the center of the outbreak, with Orleans, Jefferson and St. Tammany parishes accounting for 1,544 cases and 59 of the deaths in the state.

Orleans Parish saw an increase of 170 cases and nine coronavirus-related deaths on Thursday. There were 99 more cases and five new coronavirus-related deaths in Jefferson Parish. St. Tammany added 67 cases.

The cases in those three parishes account for 69% of all the patients who have been identified in the state.

The numbers in the rest of the state, however, are climbing at nearly twice the rate they are in New Orleans and its suburbs.

East Baton Rouge and Ascension parishes in the capital region and the Shreveport area represent the hot-spots outside of the New Orleans area, with a combined total of 311 cases and sixth deaths. Together, East Baton Rouge, Ascension and Caddo parishes account for about 40% of the cases outside the New Orleans area and a quarter of the deaths.

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The first death of a coronavirus patient in Caddo Parish was recorded on Thursday. De Soto Parish also recorded its first death from the virus.

La Salle, Madison, Pointe Coupe and Vermilion parishes all saw their first cases of coronavirus on Thursday while East Feliciana reported its first four cases.

Here's a rundown on the latest numbers:

Cases: 2,305

Deaths: 83

Reported coronavirus patients in hospitals: 676

Number of hospitalized coronavirus patients on ventilators: 239

Tests completed by state lab: 2,254

Commercial tests completed: 15,775

Parishes with reported cases: 53 of 64

Here's how those numbers compare to Wednesday:

Cases: 1,795

Deaths: 65

Reported coronavirus patients in hospitals: 491

Number of hospitalized coronavirus patients on ventilators: 163

Tests completed by state lab: 2,037

Commercial tests completed: 9,414

Parishes with reported cases: 48 of 64

More details to come.