COVID-19 cases have slowed in Louisiana. Has the state reached a peak?

The latest wave of new COVID-19 cases, fueled by the virus’ omicron variant, could have potentially peaked as new cases slowed this week for the first time since November.

Louisiana confirmed 45,205 new cases this week, an enormous number compared to prior surges, but a drop of 24% from last week’s record-setting 59,689 new cases of the virus.

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This week’s confirmed cases come across more than 244,000 molecular tests, suggesting a preliminary positivity rate of 18.5%, though that figure differs from the calculations used by Louisiana’s Department of Health.

Omicron: Lafayette healthcare leaders warn fifth COVID wave showing record growth

The increases in new cases over the past week appear to be concentrated around the state’s larger cities, where parishes saw higher growth in cases per capita than in more rural parts of the state.

The Department of Health reported this week that it has identified more than 1 million cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic first reached the state in March 2020, though that figure includes probable cases of the virus as well as those that have been confirmed.

Louisiana COVID cases top 1 million: 'Sobering milestone,' Governor John Bel Edwards says

“While we are looking for early signs that this current omicron surge is letting up, we still have far too many sick people in our state and far too many people in our hospitals with COVID,” Gov. John Bel Edwards said in a release Tuesday. “Most tragically, 15,195 Louisianans have died of this illness, which we know is now largely preventable."

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The omicron surge has dwarfed prior COVID-19 waves just in the past month, setting records for viral spread in Louisiana and this week putting more COVID-19 patients into the state’s hospitals than any wave other than the fourth wave at the end of this past summer.

Hospitalizations hit a fifth-wave high Wednesday at 2,367 COVID-19 patients hospitalized around the state. As of Thursday, that had dropped to 2,304, up by 131 patients a week ago.

This week’s increase in hospitalizations marks a leveling off in growth from prior weeks, when the state averaged increases of more than 90 new hospitalizations per day from Jan. 1-14. New hospitalizations this week averaged an increase of 19 patients a day, a decline of almost 80%.

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While case growth from the omicron surge appears to be slowing, deaths from the virus picked up dramatically during the past week, with 148 fatalities reported across seven days for an average of 21 deaths a day around the state.

This week’s rate of death from COVID-19 is the highest that Louisiana has seen since October, as the devastating fourth wave surge of cases, hospitalizations and deaths slowed down.

As of Friday, the Department of Health has confirmed 13,237 COVID-related deaths and suspects another 2,087 lives have been lost to the virus for a total of 15,324 deaths around the state.

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This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Louisiana's surge of COVID-19 omicron variant may have peaked