Calling the Slidell area a hotspot for coronavirus deaths in St. Tammany Parish Coroner Charles Preston urged residents there but also parishwide to continue social distancing and stay home if at all possible to slow the spread of the contagion.

"Although as of Monday we had only 881 confirmed cases, 48 of them — about 5% — have been fatal," Preston said in a news release. "The majority of those have been in eastern St. Tammany, particularly Slidell. I cannot adequately emphasize the need for our entire community to continue with mitigation efforts," he said.

Tuesday's data was worse: The state Department of Hospitals had increased the numbers to 898 reported coronavirus cases and 55 deaths. St. Tammany ranks fifth among parishes in the state for the number of cases.

Preston, joined by St. Tammany Parish President Mike Cooper and Slidell Mayor Greg Cromer, gave the most detailed picture yet of the coronavirus crisis in the parish at a news conference on the steps of Slidell City Hall Tuesday afternoon.

The coroner said the virus appears to be on the upside of the curve. St. Tammany had been seeing an average of about two deaths per day, Preston said, but about March 13, it started to rise. "Then Thursday, it went to four. On Friday, it went to five; Saturday, 12 and Sunday 8," he said. "We had five yesterday that were confirmed."

The death count went up by another seven people on Tuesday, according to state data.

"This is the visual I want you to see," Preston said, showing a map he created using his office's death investigation software that denotes the coronavirus deaths with red dots. "Every dot represents the home of somebody who has died in St. Tammany Parish. And you can imagine, that every one of those deaths, there is a wide circle of affected persons around it."

The ages of those who have died from COVID-19 in St. Tammany range from 30 to 102, Preston said, but the vast majority are those who have other health issues, with heart disease lung disease and diabetes chief among them.

Data from elsewhere has shown that African-Americans are being disproportionately affected by COVID-19. In St. Tammany, Preston had breakdowns by ethnicity through Sunday, which showed that 33 of the deaths were white and 15 were African American. "I don't know if that is really reflective of St. Tammany Parish," he said.

U.S. Census data shows that St. Tammany Parish, population of just over 260,000, is 83.5% white and 12.5% African American.

Preston said there are logical reasons why Slidell has the largest concentration of deaths, pointing to the fact that it is the most densely populated part of the parish. But coronavirus is hitting the entire parish, he stressed.

"While folks around here tend to have very regional identities, Slidell and Lacombe are not far apart. Lacombe and Mandeville are not far apart. Mandeville and Covington are not far apart. This illness spreads rather easily, and we are all accustomed to moving around freely and a lot. If we're not careful, we will be the next epicenter."

Slidell Mayor Greg Cromer said that the data provided by Preston is what people in Slidell have been asking him for.

"Where are the cases occurring, are they in our neighborhoods, are the majority of them on our side of the parish, where do we need to avoid?" Cromer said of questions his constituents have raised. "This doesn't tell you where you need to avoid, but it absolutely emphasizes exactly why we've been doing what we've doing for the last month to month and a half."

Cromer said that social distancing, avoiding creation of crowds and other measures need to continue for at least another two weeks and urged people not to let their guard down.

Preston agreed, saying if people want to "get out of timeout," by April 30, it's critical to be diligent in following guidelines, including wearing masks in public, and above all, staying home.

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That hasn't been happening enough, officials said. There was an uptick in crowds at parks in Slidell over Easter weekend, something that Slidell Police Chief Randy Fandal said officials had anticipated. Police did not issue citations, but did tell large groups to disperse, he said. An 11 p.m. to 5 a.m curfew in Slidell has cut the number of people out during those hours in half, he said.

Preston also said it is alarming to see people in stores without masks and standing too close together.

"Don't take advantage of this beautiful weather and go out on the river or have crawfish boils," Parish President Mike Cooper added. "Now's the time for personal sacrifice, now's the time to take personal responsibility."