Louisiana's death toll from the coronavirus pandemic rose by 36 to 119 Friday, with the virus claiming its first victims in Acadiana.
Statewide, the virus has killed 119 people.
Three people in St. Martin Parish ages 41, 70 and 89, are among the lives claimed by COVID-19, Dr. Tina Stefanski, regional medical director with the Louisiana Office of Public Health, said Friday.
The 41-year-old man was otherwise healthy, St. Martin Parish President Chester Cedars said.
Another person in Acadia Parish was reported among the dead with the noon update from the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals. No details about that case are available.
In Lafayette Parish, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases jumped Friday to 44, up by 14 from Thursday, the DHH reported. No deaths have been reported in Lafayette Parish as of noon Friday.
Stefanski said Friday there will be additional deaths to report in Acadiana as notifications are made.
As of noon Friday, St. Martin Parish had 10 confirmed cases of coronavirus, including three deaths, an increase of eight cases overnight. Some of the results, Stefanski said, are from tests taken in the past few weeks. Others were taken in the past two days.
Elsewhere in Acadiana, St. Landry Parish has 10 confirmed cases, up from five Thursday. Acadia Parish, with its first death reported Friday, saw an increase of five cases overnight, to eight.
Smaller increases in positive tests were reported in other Acadiana parishes, including two in Evangeline Parish, bringing them to four; one in St. Mary Parish, bringing them to six; one in Iberia Parish, bringing them to four; one in Vermilion Parish, bringing them to two; and Jeff Davis Parish remained at one case.
Orleans Parish, the hardest hit by the pandemic, recorded an additional 173 positive cases Friday, up to 1,170, and another 11 deaths, bringing the total to 57 in that parish.
In Jefferson Parish, an additional 90 people tested positive for coronavirus overnight, up to 548, according to the DHH, and the number of deaths in that parish doubled from 12 Thursday to 24 Friday.