BATON ROUGE, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – Louisiana has reported 775 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases and nine more deaths since Wednesday, bringing the cumulative number of cases statewide to 178,171 and total deaths to 5,593.

Also according to the LDH:

• Because of the daily removal of newly identified duplicates and out of state cases, the new case increase may not match the difference between today’s and yesterday’s total case count.
• The collection dates for most of these cases fall between October 14 and October 21, 2020.
• 94% of the cases reported to the state today were community spread.
• 6% of the cases reported to the state today were in congregate settings.
• People aged 29 and under represent 28% of these cases. 15% are individuals between 18-29.
• The newly confirmed cases since Wednesday came from the results of 19,756 tests reported to the state, bringing the total number of tests to 2,647,427.

Hospitalizations

LDH data show 598 patients hospitalized with coronavirus statewide as of Wednesday, October 21, which is the most recent data available. Of those, 68 were on mechanical ventilators. There were 191 patients hospitalized in Region 7, with 12 on mechanical ventilators.

NWLA numbers

With Thursday’s update, the total number of confirmed cases in Northwest Louisiana has risen to 20,388 and there are 704 deaths reported in the region.

Of the 190 new cases reported in the region, 71 were in Caddo Parish and 59 were in Bossier. Natchitoches and Webster added 15 new cases each, Sabine 12, De Soto seven, Claiborne six, Bienville three, and Red River two.

Caddo and Natchitoches also reported one new death each.

As of midday, the LDH was reporting the following data on confirmed cases, deaths, and testing in Region 7:

• Caddo  – 9,855 case(s)  |  391 death(s)  |  669 state tests  | 175,233 commercial tests
• Bossier  –  4,082 case(s)  |  117 death(s)  | 305 state tests  | 73,831 commercial tests
• De Soto  – 1,007 case(s)  |  35 death(s)  |  101 state tests  | 15,146 commercial tests
• Webster  –  1,445 case(s)  | 38 death(s)  | 179 state tests  |  25,214 commercial tests
• Claiborne  –  599 case(s)  |  24 death(s)  |  244 state tests  | 9,895  commercial tests
• Bienville  –  584 case(s)  |  33 death(s)  |  378 state tests  | 11,226 commercial tests
• Natchitoches  –  1,437 case(s)  |  28 death(s)  | 746 state tests  | 19,426 commercial tests
• Sabine  –  972 case(s)  | 14 death(s)  |  232 state tests  | 13,624 commercial tests
• Red River  –  407 case(s)  |  24 death(s)  | 653 state tests  | 4,146 commercial tests

ArkLaTex numbers

There are now 33,929 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the ArkLaTex and 1,116 deaths reported.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up within weeks. For some, especially older adults and those with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness and be life-threatening.