Announcement expected from governor on coronavirus response

St. Mary Parish officials, educators and health-care workers gathered Friday in Morgan City and heard that Gov. John Bel Edwards is expected to make a major midday announcement about the state's coronavirus responses.

State officials on a conference call said school closures and event cancellations have been under consideration.

The local officials met at the Emergency Operations Center to hear from state homeland security and public health officials.

"This is happening so fast that it's hard to tell what the governor will do in an hour," St. Mary Homeland Security Director David Naquin said during the meeting, which started at 10 a.m.

"This is doable," said Dr. Jimmy Guidry, the state health officer. "We just have to be smart about it."

The local officials heard that test priorities have been changed because the current threat is more from community spread than from exposure to travelers who have been in affected areas.

Personal protective equipment for health care workers is in short supply, but officials said suitable gear currently used in mining, woodworking and other trades is now being directed toward health care.

Other developments:

--Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin announced that Louisiana's presidential preference primary, scheduled for April 4, has been postponed for at least two months.

--St. Mary Sheriff Blaise Smith said all visiting at the Law Enforcement Center in Centerville is suspended, a decision that will be reviewed every 30 days.

"We are working with our phone and tablet providers to expand access to telephone services to ensure you have continued connection to family and friends during this time," Smith said.

--LSU is asking that on-campus events and LSU-sponsored off-campus events of 30 attendees be be canceled through May 30.

A decision about commencement will be made at a later date.

--Cleco is temporarily suspending service disconnects and late fees on customer accounts effective Friday until further notice.

“The well-being of our customers, contractors, employees and the general public is our primary concern as the coronavirus has now reached Louisiana and was recently declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization,” said Ron Smith, director of customer experience. “We don’t want our customers to have to worry about losing electricity and incurring late fees given the importance of electric power in preventing the spread of the virus.”

Cleco offers multiple payment options that don’t require customers to physically go inside a Cleco customer service office or visit an authorized pay agent, including paying bills online, by phone, by mail or dropping payments in the night deposit box located at each customer service office.