Five more people have presumptively been sickened by the new coronavirus in Louisiana, bringing the statewide total to 19, state health officials said Thursday.

The Louisiana Department of Health listed four new cases in Orleans and a new case in Jefferson parishes. The majority of cases have been clustered in the New Orleans area, as well as single cases in Lafourche and Caddo parishes.

Though many who contract the illness exhibit mild symptoms similar to the cold, older people and those with underlying medical conditions are more vulnerable to serious, and sometimes fatal, complications.

Health officials say they believe the virus spreads mainly from droplets when a sickened person coughs or sneezes, similar to the flu. In many of the recent cases in Louisiana, officials believe the virus has spread within communities.

Gov. John Bel Edwards said Thursday he believes the virus will continue spreading in the state as more tests are taken.

To avoid a surge of patients that could overwhelm health care systems, he said the state would limit nursing home and prison visitors, while warning of more steps to limit public gatherings in the coming weeks.

“We’re at an inflection point,” Edwards said Thursday morning. “We are looking at limiting certain things that we know to increase the risk of the virus being spread. It has to do with gatherings of a certain size.”