The Louisiana Governor’s Office has confirmed the first case of ‘presumptive’ COVID-19 in Louisiana.
The case will remain ‘presumptive’ until confirmed by the United States Center for Disease Control. The person is a resident of Jefferson Parish and is at an Orleans Parish hospital. Louisiana will send the presumptive positive test to the CDC for final confirmation of COVID-19. Because of the reliability of the test, Louisiana will move forward as if the test is an actual positive and take actions to contain the illness and assess the risk of spread.
The Office of Public Health’s epidemiology team will begin an investigation of people who have come in close contact with the patient, including health care workers, to determine the risk of spread.
OPH will administer additional COVID-19 tests to determine if more people have been infected. Some people at risk may be quarantined for 14 days, even if their initial test is not positive.
Gov. Edwards said, “While today is the first time that we can confirm that we have a presumptive positive coronavirus case, Louisiana has been preparing for this moment for many weeks. The CDC still believes the risk to the general public is low, but we will work quickly and decisively to assess the risk to those around this patient.”
For more information about the coronavirus and how officials in Louisiana are preparing, visit the link below.
https://gov.louisiana.gov/index.cfm/page/89
