The Louisiana Department of Health reports three new presumptive positive cases of COVID-19 as of Tuesday night. All three are residents of Orleans Parish; two are hospitalized in Orleans Parish, the third is hospitalized in St. Tammany Parish.
Gov. Edwards said, "Currently, we have a total of six presumptive positive cases of coronavirus in Louisiana. While we investigate these cases, we cannot disclose any additional information about these patients at this time."
The presumptive positive tests will be sent to the CDC for final confirmation. Louisiana will move forward as if the tests are actual positives and take actions to contain the illness and assess the risk of spread.
Additional tests will be administered to determine if more people have been infected.
As of Tuesday night, there are a total of six known cases of the illness in the state.
The first presumptive positive case, a Jefferson Parish resident, was announced on Monday, March 9. Two additional cases, both in Orleans Parish, were announced on Tuesday afternoon.
Officials now say 43 tests of Persons Under Investigation have been completed.
One of the six cases is someone who attended a national journalism conference in New Orleans last Wednesday through Sunday, officials say. More than 1,000 people attended that conference.
