UPDATED: Mask mandate, bar closures will be extended to Aug. 7

Gov. John Bel Edwards had one bit of good news for his press conference Tuesday: New modeling from the White House indicates that the widespread use of face coverings can bring COVID-19’s spread under control without going back to Phase One restrictions.
“It is my hope, and quite frankly my expectation, that we won’t go backwards,” Edwards said.
But the rest of the news about COVID-19 in Louisiana was anything but good, leading Edwards to announce he’ll extend the new restrictions he imposed July 13 by another two weeks to Aug. 7.
Those measures include the mask mandate, the closure of bars and the 50-person limit on crowd sizes.
“We still have a lot of COVID in Louisiana, more than we want,” Edwards said. “And it is widespread all across our state.”
Among the troubling numbers:
—The 1,527 COVID-positive people in hospitals as of Tuesday represent the largest total since May 3.
—The 36 deaths attributed to COVID in the 24 hours before noon Tuesday are the most since May 28.
—Across the state, the percentage of tests returning positive results is over the 10% target in federal public health guidance. The most recent positivity percentage was 15.4%, Edwards said.
—One-third of the positives reported recently are among people 29 and younger.
—The statistical indicator known as R is above 1 across the state. Experts say R represents the number of people who catch the disease from each infected patient. If it’s higher than 1, the virus spreads exponentially as infected people infect others.
—About 90% of the positives reported Tuesday were the result of community spread and not from congregant settings such as nursing homes.
Especially troubling for Dr. Alex Billioux of the Louisiana Department of Health are the hospitalization numbers.
“We’ve now clearly turned the corner in the wrong direction and are seeing a steady rise in hospitalizations statewide,” Billioux said at the press conference.
A Tuesday call with regional public health directors and hospital administrators revealed concern about the number of people turning up at their facilities.
“Everybody emphasized the same concerns,” Billioux said. “They’re seeing hospital capacities becoming more and more strained, not just because of COVID … but also people who delayed treatment because of COVID now coming in sicker and needing admission. …”
In Region 4, which centers on Lafayette and includes St. Martin Parish, officials are seeing growing numbers of people arriving at hospitals with COVID-like symptoms, high levels of positives in testing and a growing number of cases. Some hospitals are having trouble admitting patients, he said.
Tuesday’s statistics say about 74% of Region 4’s 1,687 hospital beds are in use. In Region 3, which includes St. Mary and Assumption, hospital bed usage is at about 67%.
Both Edwards and Billioux stressed that COVID is no longer concentrated in regional hot spots as it was in the spring but is increasing statewide.
Louisiana still has at least one hot spot in Baton Rouge, one of three U.S. cities singled out by the White House Coronavirus Task Force as “a hot spot of national concern.” Federal and state authorities have moved to increase the amount of testing there.
Meanwhile, all the concerns surrounding COVID and mitigation measures continue to weigh on the state.
NOLA.com reported that four Jefferson Parish business owners sued Edwards on Tuesday, charging that the July mandates have damaged their businesses. They cited Attorney General Jeff Landry’s recent opinion that Edwards exceeded his authority with the mask mandate, the bar closures and the crowd size limit.
The start of school is also approaching, fueling a debate over whether it is safe to bring children back to school and how that can be safely accomplished.
Billioux wouldn’t be pinned down on whether schools can be safely opened.
“By and large, kids are probably safer,” he said. “But kids are around teachers and they have to go home to be around caregivers. …
“Education is critical. We need to do this whether it’s in-person or virtual.”
Edwards said that whatever phase of White House coronavirus guidelines the state is in will apply to schools.

ST. MARY NOW

Franklin Banner-Tribune
P.O. Box 566, Franklin, LA 70538
Phone: 337-828-3706
Fax: 337-828-2874

Morgan City Review
1014 Front Street, Morgan City, LA 70380
Phone: 985-384-8370
Fax: 985-384-4255