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Beginning Monday, St. Mary Parish grocery stories, dollar stores, convenience stories and pharmacies will be limited to 6 a.m.-8 p.m. business, and can allow no more customers than 35% of the capacity determined by the fire marshal. The new rules are in executive order from Parish President David Hanagriff.

The new measures against the spread of COVID-19 were announced at a Saturday press conference.

Shoppers are being asked to limit themselves to one person for one cart or basket. Twenty-four-hour pharmacies can operate after hours using drive-through service.

Golf courses can remain open, but carts are limited to one person.

Hanagriff said he issued the order after consultation with St. Mary mayors. He said the order is in force in municipalities as well as in unincorporated areas.

Hanagriff was joined at the live-streamed press conference by Homeland Security Director David Naquin, Sheriff Blaise Smith and Coroner Eric Melancon.

They fielded questions about a parishwide curfew, but the feeling among the officials was that the problem isn't people being out at night.

Smith said he had gone to big and small stores with a notebook and found only 7-10% compliance with social distancing guidelines.

"I've been in stores where it's like a family reunion," Smith said. "You've got to wait for people to move so you can get by them because everybody's sitting there talking.

"So I think what they're instituting now is going to be a big help, because when a store gets to be a gathering place, then that's a gathering place for the virus to spread."

Smith urged people to limit their trips to the store and to ask a friend's headed for a store to shop for them. Hanagriff asked people who can shop on weekdays to avoid going to stores on weekend, leaving room for people who work through the week.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other public health agencies have urged people to prevent the spread of COVID-19 by staying home as much as possible, staying out of groups of more than 10, maintaining 6 feet of separation from other people, washing hands frequently, and coughing and sneezing into an elbow. Officials are hoping to slow the spread of the disease enough to avoid a sudden spike in hospitalizations and ventilator use that will overwhelm health care resources.

Smith said deputies have had to break up gatherings in local parks, and civic centers had to be closed when students idled by the suspension of classes began to congregate at the centers.

Naquin, the former sheriff who is now the head of parish homeland security, said he was saddened to learn that two first-responders have died from COVID-19-related illness, and another 60 have tested positive.

"Keep Acadian Ambulance in your prayers," Smith said. "These guys and gals go out there every day and answer every call. They have no choice."

Naquin also expressed frustration with delays in testing.

The Louisiana Office of Public Health reported Saturday that 18 new St. Mary people had tested positive for COVID-19 since noon Friday, bringing the total to 65. Naquin said those new results may be the result of a lag in reporting test results from four or five days ago.

Melancon said Saturday that local hospitals can turn around test results in 24-48 hours. Commercial labs can take up to a week. The Chitimacha tribal government was able to obtain a few rapid tests, but Smith said those were used to test inmates at the parish jail.

"The system's broken," Naquin said. "I'm not going to lie about that."

As the Army Corps of Engineers announced a partial opening of the Bonnet Carré Spillway on Friday, a Corps officer said new predictions indicate the Atchafalaya River at Morgan City will rise during this flood event to a level that would be nearly a foot over the moderate flood stage and about one-third foot of the March 2019 crest.

The news came as at least one Mississippi official urged the Corps to consider opening the Morganza Floodway as an alternative to the Bonnet Carré, sending even more water into the Atchafalaya system.

Putting more water into the Atchafalaya would result "in even more stress on Morgan City and all the communities surrounding it," said Col. Stephen Murphy of the Corps at Friday's event marking the opening of the Bonnet Carré. "More water in the Atchafalaya would be absolutely devastating."

At 7 p.m. Friday, the Mississippi River at the Carrollton Street gauge in New Orleans was at 16.32 feet and expected to rise to the 17.0-foot flood stage Wednesday and stay there until at least until April 16, according to the National Weather Service

Earlier this week, a sudden rise in the river crest forecast led the Corps to conclude that the river's flow at New Orleans would reach the 1.25 million cubic feet per second trigger for opening the Bonnet Carré. That spillway diverts water from the river into Lake Pontchartrain and down to the Mississippi coast.

At Friday's Bonnet Carré opening, Murphy said the Corps plans to open 10 or 20 of the spillway's 350 bays at a time over a four-week period, probably to a maximum of 95-110 bays. The Corps anticipates a maximum flow of 120,000-130,000 cubic feet per second for about a week. He anticipates that the water directed toward Mississippi would amount to only about 10% of last year's total.

"To the people affected by the opening of the spillway," said Gen. Mark Toy, commander of the Corps' Mississippi Valley Division, "I ask you to understand that we do this to help save lives, to protect people."

But some Mississippi state officials may not be in an understanding mood.

This will mark the third consecutive year the Bonnet Carré has been opened, a first in the spillway's eight-decade history. Last year was the first time the spillway was opened twice in the same year.

Mississippi officials, environmentalists and other stakeholders filed a federal lawsuit in December alleging that the Corps failed to consult with parties in that state before opening the spillway and subjecting Mississippi to flooding, loss of income from saltwater fisheries and ecological damage.

The Biloxi Sun Herald quoted a spokesman for Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson as saying this during an online meeting of stakeholders:

“The Mississippi Gulf Sound is still reeling from the 3 openings in the past two years and these impacts still haven’t been adequately measured or considered, yet you’re about to make it even worse by again using the BCS this year.

“While you claim you do not have the authority, have you even requested a change in operating guidelines to help diminish those impacts by at least allowing a partial opening of the Morganza?”

At Friday's spillway opening, Toy said, "When we open the spillway, we do everything we can to help mitigate its impact."

At 8 p.m. Friday, the Atchafalaya River at Morgan City was at 6.89 feet. At 6.0 feet, the river causes minor flooding between the flood walls in Morgan City and Berwick. At 7.0 feet, the flooding is rated as moderate. The National Weather Service forecast says the river will rise to 7.5 feet Wednesday.

The one-foot rise Murphy talked about would take the river to about 7.9 feet.

Last year, one of the worst for flooding in recent years, Hurricane Barry's storm surge pushed the river to 10 feet in July. Otherwise, the 2019 crest came March 15, when the river reached 8.25 feet, according to the National Weather Service.

The 2019 flooding persisted from later winter into the summer, threatening homes in the Stephensville area and covering portions of La. 70 with water in lower St. Martin. Shrimpers said the influx of freshwater hurt their catch, and sediment deposited in the system led to shoaling in important commercial waterways.

To combat the back-flooding along Bayou Chene, the St. Mary Levee District and other agencies sank a barge in the bayou at a cost of millions. A permanent structure is under construction at a cost of $80 million.

By congressional mandate, the Old River flood control structure diverts 30% of the Mississippi River's water into the Atchafalaya system

NOTICE
This notice is provided by UMCOR Sager Brown for individuals that participated in the food distribution on March 25, 2020 at the Baldwin Civic Center. This notice is offered in an abundance of caution and out of care for all whom UMCOR Sager Brown serves. One of the UMCOR Sager Brown employees at the food distribution has tested positive for COVID-19. Based on research and current information, UMCOR Sager Brown believes that the individual loaded some food items into the boxes that were distributed but does not believe that the individual who tested positive unloaded the boxes of food from the truck or delivered them to the recipients’ vehicles. However, consistent with public health advice for everyone, please contact a doctor or medical professional if you have symptoms consistent with COVID-19. More information about symptoms can be found on the CDC’s website (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/symptoms.html).

The Louisiana Department of Education on Thursday announced local school systems would have broad leeway in deciding whether seniors are ready to graduate.
Schools have been closed since mid-March and will remain so for at least another month because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Local officials may replace traditional grades with a binary pass/fail option. However, schools “must consult with students and parents” to determine if pass/fail should be used and how this may impact grade point average requirements for the state’s TOPS scholarship program, the department says.
For students who have not demonstrated the knowledge necessary in a course to award credit, schools can provide options that can help students meet credit requirements through distance learning, online coursework, written work packets, project-based learning, portfolios, proficiency exams or work-based learning.
Gov. John Bel Edwards on March 13 ordered public schools closed in hopes of limiting the spread of the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19. He plans to extend his broader “stay at home” order, currently scheduled to expire April 13, through the end of the month.
Since schools generally finish their year in May, in-person classes may not be held at all again this year. Schools may host virtual graduation ceremonies or in-person ceremonies later in the summer, if and when it is considered safe to do so.
Instructional minute and compulsory attendance requirements have been waived because of the disruption, along with end-of-course exams for graduating seniors and promotional requirements for fourth and eighth grades. Public schools and school districts won’t receive performance scores from the state and teachers won’t have their usual evaluations.
The Louisiana Board of Regents, which oversees higher education, plans to ask legislators to allow students to use a June ACT score to qualify for TOPS.
“This special time for seniors across the state has been disrupted by the COVID-19 event, and we are sensitive to the uncertainty this has caused to the students and their families,” acting State Superintendent Beth Scioneaux said. “We want to support and reassure them that the path forward and the ability to follow their dreams remains.”