UPDATED: Governor extends stay at home order to May 15

Gov. John Bel Edwards said Monday that he will extend his stay at home order to May 15 despite earlier hopes that he would move more quickly to reopen the state economy.

Edwards said at Monday's daily press conference that he'd consulted four epidemiologists and officials with the Louisiana Department of Health about the progress in the fight against the spread of COVID-19, and relied on the Trump administration's guidance on a phased reopening of the economy.

"Obviously my hope ... was we would begin taking bigger steps toward reopening and moving toward some semblance of normalcy than what I'm able to announce today," Edward said. "The fact is we just don't meet the criteria."

Even so, the order will be modified in three ways beginning Friday:

--Restaurants with outdoor tables will be allowed to let customers eat there, but no table service will be permitted. Restaurants will still be restricted to takeout, drive-through and delivery orders for now.

--Malls will remain closed to the public except for stores with their own access to the outdoors. But stores can do business by way of curbside service.

--Employees who come into contact with the public in businesses that remain open must wear masks or other face coverings.

Otherwise, businesses that had been ordered closed, including barber and beauty shops, casinos and bars, will remain closed at least until May 15.

The governor's stay at home order had been scheduled to expire Thursday. Edwards said he'd relayed his decision to delay a reopening to Vice President Mike Pence.

"He told me he supports the decision, and quite frankly, that's not surprising," the governor said.

Louisiana still ranks sixth in the nation in the rate of COVID-19 spread, Edwards said.

Still, Louisiana Office of Public Health statistics have shown improvement over the last few weeks as mitigation measures are preventing a sudden spike in cases that would overwhelm health care resources.

"That's because of the people who took seriously the stay at home order," Edwards said. "They took seriously social distancing and hygiene. ... What we know is the action taken by Louisianians across the state has saved lives, many, many lives."

The goal is to reach the criteria set out in the Trump administration's Make America Open again guidelines, which set a goal of two weeks' worth of improvement in cases of COVID-19 and similar illnesses, deaths and hospitalizations before moving into a Phase One reopening.

"Phase 1 lifts the Stay at Home order and eases restrictions on some public spaces like houses of worship and restaurants and opens other businesses that have been closed such as barber shops and salons, but with restrictions on occupancy and strict requirements for personal distancing and masks to keep everyone safe," according to the Governor's Office website. "Phase One occupancy for these businesses will be limited to 25 percent."

The improvement in statewide COVID-19 numbers is being driven by an improving situation in Orleans Parish, said Dr. Alex Billioux, assistant secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health. At the regional level, Edwards said, the picture is "less rosy."

The number of COVID-19-like illnesses is decreasing statewide. But COVID-19 cases are increasing in Department of Health Region 2 in the Baton Rouge area; in Region 4 in Acadiana, including St. Martin; and in Region 8 in the Monroe area. Cases in Region 9 on the Northshore have reached a plateau.

Hospitalizations are increasing in Regions 2 and 8 and have plateaued in Region 7 in the Shreveport-Bossier area and in Region 5 in southwest Louisiana.

In Region 3, which includes St. Mary and Assumption, COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are decreasing.

But 27,068 Louisiana people have tested positive for COVID-19, and 17,303 are believed to have recovered. So nearly 10,000 people are known to still be infected, Edwards said.

The goal now is to ramp up testing and contact tracing to 200,000 in May. Fewer than 150,000 tests are known to have been performed in Louisiana since the pandemic began.

Edwards ruled out a parish-by-parish easing of economic restrictions because one problem or another seems to persist in different parts of the state.

"I believe we have to be smart about reopening the economy," Edwards said, "because if we reopen too quickly, that won't be good for public health or the economy, and we would wind up having to slam on the brakes and actually go back to more restrictions."

The governor encouraged people to get outdoors to enjoy the spring weather while maintaining social distancing. The disease is much less likely to spread outdoors, Billioux said.

And Edwards made an appeal to Louisiana people to wear masks or other face coverings in public.

"We know this is very important," the governor said.

He encouraged business owners and faith leaders to use the two weeks before a possible easing of restrictions to make sure they have masks for employees and have made accommodations for proper social distancing.

Edwards said he plans to announce May 11 whether Louisiana has met the Phase One criteria.