EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH, La. (WVLA)- For the first time since a coronavirus death was reported in East Baton Rouge Parish, EBR coroner “Beau” Clark is releasing another death notice on the same day.

Earlier this morning, there were seven reported deaths in East Baton Parish due to the coronavirus.

The number of deaths because of COVID-19 now stands at 9 in the state.

East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner William “Beau” Clark provided this detailed information about the increase in deaths:

“My office has received results from the Office of Public Health Central Laboratory (OPH Lab) on a pending case. On March 23, my office received a call from EMS to respond to an at-home death of a 53-year-old male located in East Baton Rouge Parish. Recent history provided by family indicated respiratory distress and other symptoms that led my office to conduct a post-mortem viral swab collection. On March 27, my office received results from the OPH Lab indicating that the decedent’s sample had tested positive for the presence of the COVID19 virus. Co-morbidities were present. In addition, this morning, my office received a call from Hospice Compassus at Ochsner Medical Center in Kenner, La. reporting the death of an East Baton Rouge Parish resident. This was a 94-year-old female who had a positive test for COVID-19. This brings our COVID-19 related confirmed deaths to nine; eight of these were East Baton Rouge residents. One of these deaths is a Mississippi resident that died in East Baton Rouge Parish. Our condolences are extended to the families and friends of those lost to this disease.”