Are we seeing the feared increase in coronavirus cases following more people gathering for Easter?
Louisiana today reported 710 new cases of COVID-19 and 65 more deaths.
This comes 18 days after Easter Sunday.
Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards said after the holiday that too many people broke the social distancing and gathering guidelines, which he was afraid would mean more coronavirus spread.
However, the Louisiana Department of Health says there appears to be another factor.
"Today, the Department reports 710 new cases, of which 381 came from two labs that are new to reporting. These labs previously have not reported and are now reporting all their historic lab results electronically. This means 329 of the 710 new cases came from the rest of the regular reporting across the state. We expect to see more labs across the state onboarding in a similar fashion over the next two weeks as we work to quickly ramp up testing across the state and ensure the state has the most comprehensive data on testing."
There are now 28,711 positive tests for the virus in Louisiana and 1,927 deaths in the state.
The number of people in the hospitals also increased today by six, but one fewer patient on a ventilator.
The state had not recorded more than 700 positive tests in a single day since April 15th.
