Case and test data for the state of Louisiana could not be updated for Friday, May 29, because of network issues. Meanwhile Hospitalizations and ventilator use continue to decline.
The state is reporting 26 new deaths.
“These are 26 Louisianans,” said Gov. Bel Edwards during his Friday press briefing. “Our brothers and sisters, aunts, uncles and cousins. These are not numbers. They are human beings.”
While Gov. Edwards is expected to announce on Monday, June 1, whether state will move into Phase Two of reopening after the current order ends on June 5, he spent his May 29 press briefing focused on the state’s testing plan he says is being submitted to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in days.
Gov. Edwards says the plan has four goals as outlined:
1. Increase baseline testing by 100,000 in May.
2. Achieve 4 percent per capita testing each month for the state.
3. Achieve 2 percent per capita testing in all parishes by the end of May.
4. Achieve a 10 percent or less positive test rate statewide and for each region.
Louisiana is on its way to reaching each of these goals, he said. Fewer than 14,000 tests are needed to meet the goal of increasing testing by 100,000, which will ensure that the state also meets the goal of testing at least 4 percent of the population, he said.
Only three parishes, Beauregard, Cameron and Vernon, are below the 2 percent testing goal for parishes, he said, adding that “they are making steady progress” toward it.
The state is has a current positive test rate of 11 percent.