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Gov. John Bel Edwards speaks at a recent press conference on the coronavirus.

Screen Capture from Louisiana Public Broadcasting

Governor: Safety is key to schools reopening

Louisiana needs to get kids back in school, but only when campuses are prepared to fight the spread of COVID-19, Gov. John Bel Edwards said at a press conference Wednesday.
About a month before Louisiana schools would resume classes in normal times, Edwards said the state will have to go “deeper into the calendar” before reopening decisions are made.
Also Wednesday, the state released data that say bars, food processing plants and industrial settings are now the leading sources of COVID-19 outbreaks. And the resurgence in new coronavirus cases since mid-June continues to include a disproportionate large number of young people.
Aside from their educational duties, public schools are important components of local economies. School districts tend to be among the largest employers in Louisiana parishes, and interruptions in classes pose a challenge for working parents who are forced to scramble for child care.
President Donald Trump has posted tweets saying that schools must reopen in the fall and has hinted about withholding federal funding in states where campuses remain closed. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are working on new, less restrictive guidelines for school re-openings at the president’s direction.
On Wednesday, Edwards acknowledged the importance of reopening schools, not just for learning but for nutrition, social and emotional wellness, and progress for special needs students.
But “we are in a new normal,” Edwards said. “Even if we have in-person instruction on our campuses, it’s not likely it will look like it did before COVID.”
Public schools were closed on Edwards’ order in mid-March. Two months of general declining COVID-19 spread, deaths and hospitalizations began in early April and continued until mid-June, when the spread of COVID began to accelerate across the Sun Belt.
The Baton Rouge area has emerged as one of the nation’s coronavirus hotspots in the last few weeks. The capital is one of three cities identified by federal public health officials as targets for intensive testing, Edwards said. The other cities are McAllen, Texas, and Jacksonville, Florida.
Also at Wednesday’s press conference, the state rolled out new data on the settings where COVID-19 outbreaks occur most.
They included:
—Bars, where 36 outbreaks led to 393 cases.
—Food processing plants, where 11 outbreaks led to 423 cases.
—Industrial settings, where 16 outbreaks led to 117 cases.
—Restaurants, where 16 outbreaks led to 68 cases.
—Colleges, where three outbreaks led to 84 cases.
Edwards often uses his week press conferences to urge people to fight the spread of COVID-19 by practicing social distancing, wearing masks in public and washing hands frequently.
On Wednesday, he added another plea. He urged people to quarantine themselves after coming into contact with people who are infected.
Keep in mind that the coronavirus test requires a specific level of viral load to detect and that the viral load needs time to develop. So a negative test taken immediately after contact may not register a case of COVID-19 that may develop up to two weeks later.

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