Governor eases mask mandate

Louisiana’s mask mandate is being rolled back in response to statistics reflecting success in fighting the spread of COVID-19.

Gov. John Bel Edwards said at a Tuesday press conference that the 9-month-old mask mandate will be lifted with exceptions. Local officials and business owners will set their own mask policies. But masks will still be required:

—In state offices and businesses where the management decides masks are necessary.

—In K-12 schools.

—In colleges and universities.

—In health care facilities licensed by the Louisiana Department of Health.

—On public transportation.

Also, salons will be allowed to reopen waiting rooms.

Theaters and other indoor venues, include sports venues, will have a choice between a 75% occupancy limit with social distancing and no occupancy limit as long as masks are required.

Live music restrictions are being eased to allow audience members to within 10 feet of the stage.

Details will be available at opensafely.la. gov.

Edwards signed the new proclamation shortly before Tuesday’s 3:30 p.m. press conference. The new rules take effect Wednesday.

The mask mandate has been in force since mid-July, during the second of two COVID-19 surges in Louisiana.

Edwards encouraged people to continue to follow mask-wearing guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“It’s not an end to mask-wearing,” Edwards told reporters at the Capitol. “It’s a reflection of where we are with the pandemic.”

Where mask requirements remain in force, “I hope you will understand that,” Edwards said. “It’s the neighborly thing to do.”

The Office of Public Health was ready to announce a 2.8% weekly average positivity rate on COVID tests Wednesday, down from 3.5% the previous week, said State Health Officer Dr. Joseph Kanter.

COVID-related hospitalizations were at 308 Tuesday, down from a peak of 2,035 during the most recent and most lethal coronavirus surge in January.

The latest figures say 26% of Louisiana’s adult population is fully vaccinated, including 67% of people 65 and over, the group hardest hit by COVID.

Efforts to reach minorities with vaccinations are lagging, Kanter said, but not by as much as in the rest of the country.

The number of new “breakthrough cases” of COVID-19 among people who have been vaccinated is at 367 in Louisiana. The number of breakthrough cases requiring hospitalization is at 21, or 0.002% of the vaccinated population.

“That’s an extraordinarily low number,” Kanter said.

“We’re doing much better overall,” Edwards said, “although we’re not where we want to be as far people who are vaccinated or starting their series.”

Next week’s expected allocation of vaccine from federal stocks is expected to be about the same as this weeks: a combined total of 119,730 first doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

Locally, the OPH reported Tuesday:

—St. Mary has now had 3,622 confirmed COVID cases and another 1,021. The number of COVID-related deaths, confirmed and probable, is at 134.

—St. Martin has had 4,722 confirmed cases with 467 probable cases. The number of COVID deaths is at 116 confirmed and probable.

—1,572 confirmed COVID cases and 596 probable cases have been reported in Assumption. The death toll is at 36 confirmed and probable.