There are 280 confirmed cases of COVID-19 coronavirus in Louisiana as of 5:30 Wednesday evening, the Louisiana Department of Health reported.
196 cases are in Orleans Parish, and 45 are in Jefferson Parish.
There are also cases in St. Tammany, Washington, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, Ascension, Terrebonne, Lafourche, East Baton Rouge, Caddo, and Bossier parishes.
Seven people have died from the illness so far, six New Orleans residents and one Jefferson Parish resident.
Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards issued what he called his more urgent plea for people to follow recommendations to avoid contact with other people, or in two weeks, he said, the U.S. will look like what is happening in Italy, where there are more patients than their health care system can handle.
