In a weekly report compiled by the White House Coronavirus Task Force, 51 of the state’s parishes are being classified in a so-called ‘Red Zone’, suggesting further restrictions to help control the spread of COVID-19 in the state.
The federal task force compiles the reports weekly and sends them to Governor Edwards and the rest of the nation’s governors. The task force classifies states and local areas in the green-yellow-red categories by looking at data from several different factors including new cases per capita, test positivity rate, amount of testing performed, deaths, and nursing home COVID-19 levels.
In the latest report, obtained Monday, 51 Louisiana Parishes are in the ‘Red Zone’, with 10 parishes listed in the ‘Yellow Zone’ classification. The July 20th report had 48 parishes in the ‘Red Zone’ and 14 parishes in the ‘Yellow Zone.’
Many of the state’s largest parishes are listed as ‘Red Zone’ parishes, while Orleans Parish is listed as a ‘Yellow Zone’ parish. On the state level, the task force noted high levels of new cases per capita, test positivity rate, deaths per capita, and skilled nursing facilities reporting Coronavirus cases. Those categories were also high in surrounding states during the same time period. The report did note that the state had good numbers in testing per capita and that while the test positivity rate was high, it had decreased from the previous week.
Governor Edwards is scheduled to address the latest numbers and trends in a press conference today at 4p.m.