SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – Since Thanksgiving, Northwest Louisiana has seen a rise in COVID-19 cases.
Dr. Krista Queen with LSU Health Shreveport says the COVID positivity rate in our area population is six percent. About two months ago, it was just below five percent.
She says this is due to social dynamics returning to pre-pandemic norms and people not taking the same precautions to prevent the spread.
“The good news is that for most of the summer, we were in the medium, and we even dipped to low community transmission levels. We haven’t reached the threshold for high. So, for the next few weeks, if everyone does a really good job with self-isolating when they don’t feel well, and wearing a mask and making sure that they’re up to date on boosters we may not get back to that high community transmission in our area,” said Dr. Queen.
Bienville Parish Louisiana Hospitalizations (Source: CDC) 
Bienville Parish Louisiana Cases & Deaths (Source: CDC) 
Bossier Parish Louisiana Cases & Deaths (Source: CDC) 
Bossier Parish Louisiana Hospitalizations (Source: CDC) 
Caddo Parish Louisiana Hospitalizations (Source: CDC) 
Caddo Parish Louisiana Cases & Deaths (Source: CDC) 
Claiborne Parish Louisiana Hospitalizations (Source: CDC) 
Claiborne Parish Louisiana Cases & Deaths (Source: CDC) 
De Soto Parish Louisiana Hospitalizations (Source: CDC) 
De Soto Parish Louisiana Cases & Deaths (Source: CDC) 
Natchitoches Parish Louisiana Hospitalizations (Source: CDC) 
Natchitoches Parish Louisiana Cases & Deaths (Source: CDC) 
Red River Parish Louisiana Hospitalizations (Source: CDC) 
Red River Parish Louisiana Cases & Deaths (Source: CDC) 
Sabine Parish Louisiana Hospitalizations (Source: CDC) 
Sabine Parish Louisiana Cases & Deaths (Source: CDC) 
Webster Parish Louisiana Hospitalizations (Source: CDC) 
Webster Parish Louisiana Cases & Deaths (Source: CDC)
She says there has also been an increase in emergency room visits and COVID-19 hospitalizations.
According to the CDC, Bossier Parish has had a 147% increase in the total number of cases since last week, but fortunately, there have been no recent deaths. However, new hospitalizations in Bossier rose more than 20% over the previous week. Those figures are higher in Caddo Parish, with a 152% increase in cases since last week, but hospitalizations are at the same rate as in Caddo.
De Soto Parish is the only parish in Northwest Louisiana with a high transmission rate. Bienville Parish is the only parish in the area with a low transmission rate.
