BATON ROUGE, La. — On Wednesday, May 27, Gov. John Bel Edwards held a media briefing on the state's response to COVID-19.
Edwards started the briefing on a somber note by reminding everyone of the passing of Louisiana State Trooper George Baker over the weekend.
The governor has ordered that all flags across the state to be lowered at half staff on Thursday.
Edwards said that there are now 13 cases of the Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) have been diagnosed across the state, with one death now being reported.
According to LDH, MIS-C is a condition where different body parts can become inflamed, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes or gastrointestinal organs. The cause of MIS-C is unknown but many children with this condition had the virus that causes COVID-19 or had been exposed to someone with COVID-19.
Edwards said that out of respect for the privacy of the young person and their family, LDH will not share additional information about the death at this time.
The governor said that the CDC determines that an individual has MIS-C if the patient is under the age of 21, with a fever, laboratory evidence of inflammation, and severe illness involving more than two organs that requires hospitalization.
They must also have no other plausible diagnoses and have tested positive for COVID-19 or have been exposed to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.
Edwards also gave some demographic information about the 13 cases of MIS-C. The age range is between 0-19 years old and the median age is 11 years old.
Six of the 13 patents are female with seven males. So far, there are four that are currently hospitalized and eight have been discharged.
Edwards also gave race and ethnicity information for the 13 patients. Seven are African American, three are white and three fit in the other category. Two are hispanic and 11 are non-hispanic.
The governor said that LDH will now update MIS-C information each Monday on its coronavirus webpage.
Edwards also said that providers who may have cared for or who are caring for patients younger than 21 years of age meeting MIS-C criteria should immediately report these cases to the Louisiana Office of Public Health Infectious Disease Epidemiology Team.
The governor said that with Wednesday's COVID-19 cases now puts Louisiana at #9 in per capita cases in the United States.
He said that there are now about 10,000 active COVID-19 cases across the state, which has been steady for the last month.
Edwards said that as the state increases its test numbers and cases, they are looking at the percentage of positive cases.
He said that the CDC and WHO have set a goal of a 10% positivity rate.
The governor said that the total in the state is now at 11%, which is far below where the state was where it was seeing postivity rates in the 40s.
He added that the daily positive test rate was 10% and that the state is doing relatively well on that metric.
Comprehensive testing in month of may has to do with positivity ratien
Edwards said that the state is still on track for its comprehensive testing goal for May.
That goal is 200,000 tests, and the number of those currently tested is at 179,369.
Edwards said that marks 4.3% of state’s population, which is twice the minimum amount recommended by the federal government.
On Wednesday, the Louisiana Department of Health reported 38,497 confirmed cases of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the state. This includes 443 additional cases than were reported Tuesday.
A total of 2,617 people have died of the disease in Louisiana. This includes 21 more deaths than were reported Tuesday.
There are 28,700 coronavirus patients that are "presumed recovered."
The Louisiana Department of Health updates their numbers each day around noon.
To see the latest from LDH and a breakdown of the numbers by parish, click here.
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