The state health department reported another 644 new coronavirus cases today. The number of COVID-19 deaths rose by 28 to 4,431, but hospitalizations declined by 22 to 1,204.

LSU Health New Orleans is participating in a clinical trial on the use of lab-created monoclonal antibodies as a way to treat COVID patients. Kevin Barnhart has the story.
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There’s good news on the COVID-19 testing front. The FDA has approved a new saliva-based test that’s as accurate as the nasal swab test and also much cheaper. LSU Health New Orleans infectious disease expert, Doctor Catherine O’ Neal, says this test will also cut down on wait times to get a result…
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O’Neal says this type of test can be useful to test a large number of people in a short amount of time, like students living in a dorm.

The National Hurricane Center is monitoring two tropical waves in the Atlantic, both of them have a good chance at developing into named storms over the next five days. State Climatologist Barry Keim says it’s not a surprise that the tropics are getting active…
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Keim says it remains to be seen if these systems get in the Gulf of Mexico.