(The Daily Advertiser) After a backlog of old coronavirus tests added 291 cases of COVID-19 to Acadiana’s total over the weekend, the region continued reporting large numbers of new infections Monday.

The eight parishes in Acadiana combined for 97 new cases of coronavirus Monday identified through 848 tests, above the region’s average of 700 new tests reported each day in the past week. And that’s after excluding the backlog of cases from the numbers.

No deaths were reported in Acadiana on Monday after 13 were reported across the region last week.

Monday’s 97 new cases reflect a 12% rate of infection discovered in the tests completed in Acadiana, more than double the 4.2% positivity rate seen in the past seven days.

The region overall has about a 6% rate of infection discovered in testing, with 3,516 total infections identified in just under 58,000 completed tests.

Most of the new cases in Acadiana came from Lafayette Parish, which added 54 infections after reporting eight on Sunday and 152 on Saturday that included backlogged results.

The state Health Department has not clarified how many of the cases added across each parish in Saturday’s backlog were from tests prior to the second week of June, instead reporting only that 560 of the 1,288 new cases reported across the state Saturday came from backlogged results.

Saturday’s backlog affected Acadiana more than any other part of the state as more tests results were added in the eight-parish region than elsewhere, including New Orleans. The New Orleans area still saw the largest number of cases reported on Saturday at 314, with Acadiana following with 291.

Excluding Saturday’s backlog of COVID-19 cases, the Acadiana region has averaged 41 new cases a day in the past week, putting Monday’s 97 new cases of coronavirus at double the area’s typical amount while the number of tests reported Monday was only 12% above the past week’s daily average.

Lafayette Parish has reported nearly half of the region’s new cases of coronavirus since the start of June, accounting for 409 of the 874 cases reported in Acadiana despite making up 37% of the region’s 655,000 population.

Lafayette Parish has averaged 26 new cases a day since last Monday, and 15 a day the week before, compared to just four per day in the first week of May.

Acadia Parish saw the second largest number of new cases Monday with 14, followed by St. Landry Parish at 10.

Since June, Acadiana has averaged 51 new cases a day, compared to 19 cases a day in the last week of April, marking a sustained increase in the spread of the virus since efforts have begun to open the region.

Louisiana identified 551 new cases Monday after more than 9,300 tests, for a positivity rate of 5.9%, compared to 5.1% in the past week.

Five new deaths were reported in Louisiana, marking an increase of 0.2% over Sunday’s total to bring the state to 2,906 lives lost to COVID-19.

Acadiana’s 97 new cases mark a 2.8% increase over Sunday’s total, putting it at more than double the statewide caseload increase of 1.2%.