| Abstract | While East Baton Rouge has the largest number of known coronavirus cases in the Capital area -- hitting 124 as of Friday -- a handful of smaller suburban and rural parishes are seeing higher figures when accounting for population. St. James, with 21,000 people, had 40 cases as of Friday, which stands as the 9th highest total of any parish in the state. But when factoring in St. James' small population, the results are even starker -- the rate works out to 190 cases per 100,000 people. That's the second-highest level in the state, and only Orleans Parish had a higher per-capita figure, according to an Advocate analysis of Friday's data, the latest available. State and local health officials said they don't know yet why some of the smaller parishes have high per-capita numbers, though some experts say one factor might be the major industrial facilities that tend to draw workers from across the region and use the various ports along the Mississippi River. |
