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LCG: low rate of tests shows social distancing is working

Posted at 11:32 AM, Apr 07, 2020
and last updated 2020-04-07 17:37:51-04

LAFAYETTE, La. — On Tuesday, April 7, Lafayette Consolidated Government held its daily press briefing on the parish's response to Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19).

Lafayette Mayor-President Josh Guillory stated that as of Tuesday, there are 272 cases of COVID-19 in Lafayette Parish, on a base of 6,800 tests. He confirmed another death in the parish attributed to the disease bringing the total number of fatalities to 7 from COVID-19.

According to Guillory, the rate of confirmed cases to tests is about 4%, which is among lowest in state. However, he said that statistic is a little misleading, since some of local testing load is from surrounding parishes. He added that while the confirmed cases are allotted to those parishes, the number of tests remain part of this statistic.

"Our relatively low rate of positive tests is an encouraging sign that our social distancing is having a beneficial impact," said Guillory.

Guillory also echoed statements made yesterday from the president's national briefing yesterday, and offered that there is some cause for cautious optimism in the national tracking.

"It’s starting to look like the nation may be on a path to avoid the worst case scenario in terms of public health impacts," Guillory said.

Guillory then reminded residents to heed advice from medical experts to keep doing what they’re doing as part of the "30 Days to Slow the Spread" guidelines from the CDC.

He also highted the potentially good news from Gov. John Bel Edwards' Monday press conference that suggested that the statewide social distancing efforts are helping.

"From the best information available, we are still experiencing substantial increases in confirmed cases," said Guillory. "But, if the data from the next few days continues on the current trend, we may see the rate of increase starting to slow, suggesting that peak infection is near. Of course, these computer models have many assumptions and the data changes daily. So, we cannot become complacent. We need to continue diligently following social distance guidelines."

According to LCG, there will not be any daily press briefings on COVID-19 Thursday, April 9, through Sunday, April 12, in observance of the Easter holiday unless there is an urgent update.

As of noon on Tuesday, there were 272 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Lafayette Parish. A seventh death was reported by the Department of Health.

The Louisiana Department of Health updates their numbers each day at noon.

To see the latest statewide numbers, click here.