Dear friends and colleagues,
Today, The Data Center adds important new data to our COVID-19 virus tracking, our economic impact analyses, and COVID-19-relevant demographics.
COVID-19 cases and deaths
- While COVID-19 was first detected in the New Orleans metro area, there is now at least one confirmed case of COVID-19 in every parish in Louisiana.
- As of April 20th, 56 percent of all Louisiana COVID-19 fatalities were black, a proportion that is in stark contrast to the state’s overall population which is 32 percent black. An examination of pre-existing health conditions and age distribution by race highlights that this disparity cannot be explained by comorbidities nor age alone.
- Our parish-by-parish examination of deaths reveals the greatest number of deaths after Orleans and Jefferson are in East Baton Rouge, Caddo, and St. Tammany parishes.
- Within the New Orleans 8-parish metro area, the rate of newly confirmed cases in Orleans and Jefferson parishes has recently slowed, but COVID-19-related deaths have not. And in the last two weeks, the number of COVID-19 deaths in St. Tammany Parish have more than quadrupled, surpassing St. Charles and St. John the Baptist Parish.
See COVID-19 data by parish, as well as health care resource usage at:
COVID-19 economic analysis
- In the highly vulnerable leisure and hospitality sector, the Louisiana Workforce Commission has received more than one claim for every three covered employees in 2019.
- All total, the number of unemployment claims filed in the New Orleans metro was comparable to 19 percent of total employment covered by unemployment insurance in 2019.
See our full analysis of at-risk occupations, as well as unemployment claims by industry sector for the first three weeks of the coronavirus-driven spike in unemployment at:
Demographics of New Orleans
- 32 percent of black New Orleanians live in poverty compared to 10 percent of whites.
- 12.2 percent of black elders 60 years old and older live with their grandchildren, compared to only 3.8 percent of white elders. Living in multi-generational housing may increase the risk of exposure to coronavirus for elders.
See all the New Orleans data by race as well as basic costs of living in New Orleans at:
Bringing you the data you need to make informed decisions,
The Data Center Team
Cody Brumfield, Amy Teller, Rachel Weinstein, Arthur Rymer, Katrina Andry, Erica Amrine, Allison Plyer, Dabne Whitemore, Jenna Losh, Don Asay, Robby Habans, and Lamar Gardere
