Confirmed Coronavirus cases continue to multiply in this region. Over the weekend cases of the disease were found in both Vernon and Beauregard Parish to our east, and to our south, Jefferson County had three cases Monday morning, but that number doubled to six Monday afternoon, while Hardin County has two and Orange County has one.

As of Monday, the Texas Department of State Health Services website said that there were 352 cases in Texas and there had been 8 deaths.

However, it should be noted that the agency’s website has proven to be very slow as far as updating their numbers, and it has been sometimes several days before confirmed cases in different counties show up in their database. For example, none of the confirmed cases in Jefferson, Hardin, or Orange Counties were listed on their website as of Monday.

Hardest hit in Texas is Dallas County where some 131 cases were reported as of Monday.

Meanwhile, our neighbors in Louisiana continue to be hard-hit by the very contagious disease. As of Monday, 1,172 cases were reported and 34 people had died. Additionally, it was reported that some 5,948 Coronavirus tests had been administered.

Louisiana health officials say the highest concentration of cases is in the New Orleans area, and they believe that the sudden influx and spread of the disease occurred when thousands of people came in for Mardi Gras in February.

Across the country, as of Monday the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta reported 33,404 cases and 400 deaths in the United States.

Around the globe, the World Health Organization reported Monday a total of 332,930 cases and 40,788 deaths. Meanwhile, China, where Coronavirus originated in late November or early December, still leads the world with the most cases, 81,601, and the most deaths, 3,276.

Amazingly, India, which is the second most populous country in the world with 1.3 billion people, has only 415 cases. However, India has experienced a more than 31% death rate with 132 people succumbing to the virus.

https://www.kjas.com/news/local_news/article_31a5858a-6d4c-11ea-aa94-9777f1ed72fa.html