La. COVID-19 cases may have reached plateau

Louisiana may have reached the long-sought plateau in new COVID-19 cases, Gov. John Bel Edwards said in his daily press briefing Wednesday. And we may be halfway toward the progress required for easing economic restrictions called for in federal guidance.
But, as usual, the good news was tempered by caution.
“Nobody should think we’re in the clear today,” Edwards said. “We’re not even close.”
The Office of Public Health reported 404 new COVID-19 cases in the 24 hours before noon Wednesday, significantly fewer than the daily reports up until the last week.
Another 68 deaths were reported Wednesday, but hospitalizations and ventilator use were down, far short of the levels at which public health officials had feared the state’s health care resources would be overwhelmed.
The downward trend is important both for public health and economic health.
The Make America Open Again guidelines put forward by the Trump administration describe a Phase One with slightly easier social distancing rules. Schools would remain closed, but some nonessential travel would be permitted, employers could allow more employees to return to offices and restaurants could resume indoor dining.
But COVD-19-positive people would still be required to quarantine themselves, and public venues would have to institute social distancing measures.
To reach Phase One, the state would have to see progress toward a health trajectory in both individual and statewide COVID-19 statistics for two weeks.
In response to a reporter’s question, Edwards estimated that the current positive trajectory is about seven days old.
Edwards and Dr. Alex Billioux, the assistant secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health, said the state is looking at what would happen if the positive trend continues, it stagnates or it begins to be reversed.
One big need is for more testing. The state has a goal of testing 140,000 people in May.
Widespread testing followed up with contact tracing is widely held to be the best way to limit the spread of the disease by people who are infected but who haven’t displayed symptoms.
Currently, only about 142,000 tests have been performed in Louisiana since the pandemic began.
A lack of swabs for sample collection, transport media for preserving samples headed for the lab and reagents needed for testing have limited the availability of tests.
The state government is working on ways to produce those items in Louisiana, Edwards said.
The governor also encouraged people to wear masks in public to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“Think of wearing a mask in public as being polite, like opening a door for someone,” Edwards said.
The limited number of reporters allowed to attend the press briefings in person will be required to wear masks beginning Thursday.
People shouldn’t fear being tested, the governor said.
“There is no stigma for being tested for COVID-19,” Edwards said. “There is no stigma for having COVID-19.”
The disease doesn’t result from behavior to which some people might object, the governor said. COVID-19 patients have included the UK’s prime minister.
“If we’re going to be more successful, we need to have more testing …,” Edwards said.
“If you have symptoms, if you have been exposed and have symptoms, or if you get a recommendation from a health care professional, I ask you to get tested.”