More Than Half of the Newly Reported Coronavirus Cases are Old

Today the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) reported that 1,188 new cases of Coronavirus infections will be added to the growing total of folks that have contracted the new virus responsible for pandemic currently gripping our state, and the world.  This huge jump in reported cases repres ents the largest single day increase in the state since April 9th.

Once you look into the data, however, it's clear that these numbers aren't exactly what they seem.  According to the latest update posted on LDH's official website, more than half of these numbers aren't new.  Some of the positive test results date back as far as March 25th.  Not only are the numbers not exactly what they seem on the surface in the latest report - that means that our numbers for the last month (at least) weren't exactly correct either.

In total, a whopping 62% of the reported results were not current.  The reason?  Due to the rushed way our testing infrastructure was assembled at the beginning of the crisis - several new labs were employed to process the tests.  Across the state, 23 new labs in total quickly configured their laboratories to be able to aid in the testing effort.  These labs were less than punctual in reporting.  As a result, the number shocked many as Louisiana was previously on a downward trend.

To correct the misleading numbers, the LDH has stated that they will adjust the historical infection reports accordingly.