La. will move into Phase 3 as J&J vaccine arrives

Louisiana pushed ahead Tuesday on two fronts in the war against COVID-19.

Gov. John Bel Edwards said he was ready to sign a proclamation moving Louisiana into Phase 3 of coronavirus restrictions Wednesday. The move generally means an easing of capacity limits on businesses, an end to restrictions on attendance at religious services and the return of live indoor music subject to masking and social distancing requirements.

And the first 39,700 doses of the new single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine are in Louisiana and will be distributed among the Department of Health’s nine regions, said Edwards and the department’s Dr. Joe Kanter. But after the week of March 7, Louisiana is likely to go without deliveries of the J&J formulation until the end of March, they said.
Edwards and Kanter spoke at a press conference in Baton Rouge.

Louisiana had been in Phase 3 before Edwards enacted what he called modified Phase 2 rules Nov. 25 in response to the third wave of coronavirus infections.

For the last few weeks, statistics have shown that the third surge has abated. Hospitalizations for COVID are a third of what they were in January, when for the first time more than 2,000 COVID-positive Louisiana people were hospitals. The two-week average rate of COVID test positivity is below the 5% goal established by federal health experts.
COVID-related deaths are down but still unexpectedly high at about 20 a day.

“No one should think we’re out of the water,” Edwards said. “Mitigation measures remain important.”

That’s especially true because the more easily transmitted UK COVID variant is expected to become the dominant form as soon as this month, Kanter said. At least 18 and as many as 76 cases of the variant, pending confirmation, have been found in Louisiana.

Among the Phase 3 rules:
—The statewide mask mandate remains in place.
—The capacity limit for most businesses will be increased to 75% of the fire marshal’s rated capacity.
—The limit on gyms and fitness centers will remain at 50%.
—There will be no limits on attendance at religious services, but masking and social distancing rules remain in ef-fect.
—Attendance at indoor event venues will be limited to 50% of fire marshal capacity up to 250 people.
—Bars across the state can serve drinks indoors with a customer capacity limit of 25% of the fire marshal rating. In parishes with two-week positivity rates of 5% or less, including St. Mary, the capacity limit is 50%. But alcohol sales must end at 11 p.m., customers must be served at properly spaced tables, and minors aren’t allowed.
—Live music indoors will be allowed subject to fire marshal inspection of factors such as ventilation, the distance between audience members and the distance between the audience and the performers. The audience will be required to be seated.
—Outdoor events may continue with a capacity of 50% of what is called the “event space.”

The Phase 3 rules will remain into effect until at least March 28.

On Monday, Louisiana passed the 1 million mark in the number of vaccinations administered.

This week’s allocation of the new Johnson & Johnson virus will raise Louisiana’s total allocation to more than 102,000 doses. The two-dose Pfizer vaccine allocation is also being increased slightly.

The inability to get more of the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine for a few weeks is “a bump in the road,” Kanter said.

Edwards noted that Johnson & Johnson has entered a partnership with another pharmaceutical giant, Merck, to produce more of the vaccine.

Officials are counting on the one-dose vaccine to make large-scale vaccination sites possible and to vaccinate medically underserved groups that may not have easy access or transportation to health care facilities.