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Here are recent developments and announced closures related to the coronavirus:

--The LHSAA has suspended the remaining winter and spring high schools sports. Practices are left to the individual schools.

--The South Louisiana Community College system has canceled classes Monday-Wednesday. The office will be closed Monday and reopen Tuesday. See related story.

--Saturday's Irish/Italian Parade in Morgan City has been postponed. No date has been set.

— St Mary public schools and Morgan City’s Central Catholic and Immanuel Christian School, along with K-12 schools across the state, will be closed starting Monday and until at least April 13.

—The same declaration by Gov. John Bel Edwards prohibits public gatherings of more than 250 people, including worship services with congregations of that size.

—Public four-year colleges and universities are instituting online classes in place of lectures, and two-year schools, including SLCC’s Young Memorial Campus, are preparing to follow their lead.

—The Legislature is “open for business,” House Speaker Clay Schexnayder and Senate President Page Cortez said in a press release.
There are no plans to curtail the current session, but the leadership is preparing ways to get constitutionally mandated legislation passed if the Legislature’s work is interrupted.

—The March 17 Community Concert Association performance by Celtic Angels has been postponed, the association said.
Currently, the concert has not been rescheduled, but the staff at CCA of Morgan City will evaluate all available options after the threat has passed.
CCA of Morgan City and Live On Stage will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as new information becomes available.

— The Southern University Ag Center’s 10th Annual Louisiana Small Farmers Conference has been canceled.
The conference was scheduled for March 18-21 at the Felton G. Clark Activity Center and included a Hemp Summit and a book signing with Natalie Baszile, author of the Louisiana based novel “Queen Sugar.”

—The April 4 presidential preference primary, during which local Republican offices and local and state Democratic offices are to be filled, has been postponed for at least two months, the Secretary of State’s Office said.

— Out of an abundance of caution concerning COVID-19, effective immediately, all parole, pardon, revocation and administra-tive hearings are suspended for the next 30 days, the state said Friday.

—Head Start programs in St. Mary and Vermilion will suspend classes beginning Monday and will resume April 20, after the scheduled Easter break.

—Nursing homes and other health-care facilities are implementing strict limits on visits.

—The Morgan City and St. Mary Parish jails are banning visits. Morgan City police are suspending finger-printing as well.

—The Community Action Agency has suspended senior citizen dinners in Franklin and Morgan City.

—The Community Action Agency has canceled this year’s volunteer VITA help with income tax returns.

—The Songs on the Bayou songwriting contest in Morgan City has been postponed until October.

--The Acadiana Amateur Radio Association's annual hamfest in Rayne, billed as the largest gathering of radio amateurs and equipment vendors on the Gulf Coast, was forced to cancel Saturday's event by the state government's ban on large gatherings.

Gov. John Bel Edwards used a sweeping executive order Friday to order K-12 public schools closed for at least a month and prohibit public gatherings of more than 250 people, including worship services, all in an effort to halt the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

“It’s time for us to come together as Louisianians and do what Louisiana does best,” Edwards said at a press conference after he issued his proclamation. “Be good neighbors. Be resilient.”

The Louisiana Office of Public Health listed 36 presumptive positive tests in the state, none of which have been confirmed by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Twenty-six positive tests are from the New Orleans area, and one case each has been reported in Lafourche and Terrebonne.
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An earlier report of a case in Iberia Parish proved to be a mistake. No Louisiana deaths have been reported.

As Edwards prepared to talk to reporters, President Donald Trump was declaring a public health emergency, freeing federal resources for use in stopping COVID-19’s spread. Edwards thanked Trump for the declaration.

Here’s a look at the Edwards proclamation:

K-12 schools
The governor ordered the closure of the state’s public schools beginning Monday and lasting at least until Monday, April 13.

“It’s important to know that school cafeterias will be open as long as possible for students who need it,” the governor said.

He acknowledged that grandparents or other seniors are often babysitters for kids who are out of school when their parents work. That creates risk for the seniors, considered to be a vulnerable population.

“To the maximum amount possible, please work around that situation,” Edwards said.

Edwards said six other states have closed schools as a public health measure. The Louisiana closures were announced on Friday to give parents the weekend to line up child care.

“Of all the decisions I’ve announced today, this was the toughest,” Edwards said.

From St. Mary Superintendent Teresa Bagwell:
"Our staff (teachers, administrators, and support personnel) will be working Monday-Wednesday to finalize 9-weeks grades and mail out report cards to parents. The district's instructional team will be providing information to schools regarding online activities that students can access during the closure to help keep them learning. The announcement was quite sudden and school systems are all working as quickly as the can to formulate a plan for students that will offer some instructional opportunities despite not being in the classroom."

Schools in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, including Morgan City’s Central Catholic, will be closed for the same period as the public schools, Bishop
Shelton J. Fabre announced in a press release Friday.

“In response to this school closure, the Catholic schools in the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux will begin implementing their distance learning plans,” Fabre wrote. “Families will receive communication from their child’s school with specific details pertaining to the expectations of their students regarding distance learning.
Parents are asked to please continue to monitor messages received from your child’s school’s current family communication method, including PlusPortals, as well as the diocesan website and Facebook Page.”

So far, no officials have spoken publicly about if or how the missing school days will be made up or what impact the closures will have on financial aid that is based in part on student attendance.

Large gatherings
and churches
The prohibition against gatherings of 250 or more does not include what Edwards called “normal operations” — factories, shopping centers, health care facilities, airports, grocery and department stores, and office buildings, for example.

But “this prohibition does apply to churches and houses of worship with congregations that exceed 250 at a single service,” Edwards said.

He encouraged churches to explore options such as more services with smaller congregations at each.

“This is the time of the week when we know that the most number of elderly people and people with chronic health conditions are sitting in pews next to others for an hour,”
Edwards said.

Bishop Fabre wrote this:

“I want to speak very lovingly and yet directly to those who are elderly, sick, experiencing symptoms of illness, or who are at high risk of illness. I want you to hear me clearly and I want you to take very seriously the dispensation from attending Mass. For those 60 and older, I ask you to take seriously health officials urgings to implement what is called ‘social distancing.’

“I know that it is very hard for us in our culture to distance ourselves from others in this way, but it is important at this time that we do so to protect our own health and the health of others. I know that it is very difficult for our elderly parishioners to accept that they are not required to attend Mass, but as the one who serves you as bishop I dispense you from the Mass obligation and I urge you under these circumstances to accept this dispensation.”

St. Marty's congressman, U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins, R-Port Barre, alleges that the order banning church services with more than 250 people is unconstitutional.

In a letter to Edwards Friday, Higgins wrote, “As you know, the First Amendment to the United States Constitution specifically bars the government from making laws respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. I agree that all our constituents and religious leaders should follow the recommendations of the Center for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC). However, the decision to gather should be the choice of the individual or institution and not a mandate by any government entity. The State has no authority to enforce this proclamation nor any ban on worship.”

Colleges
The state’s public four-year colleges and universities are turning to online classes to prevent transmission of COVID-19, Edwards said.

Among two-year schools, Delgado has already implemented online learning, and schools in the state community and technical college system — which would include South Louisiana Community College’s Young Memorial campus in Morgan City — are preparing to follow suit.