In a press conference Saturday, Governor John Bel Edwards said he didn’t want to return the state to Phase One, so he would make three changes as of 12:01 a.m. Monday, July 20, that would affect residents of Louisiana but kept the state in Phase Two.
First, all residents, age eight and older, will now be required to wear a mask in the state unless that parish is not considered a hotspot and meets guidelines he discussed. The exceptions to the mask would be while consuming drink or food, giving speeches, for ID purposes or if they had an illness preventing them from wearing a mask. Second, Edwards closed all bars, regardless if they served food or not, at 12:01 a.m. Monday. He said those serving food could offer curbside service. The last change involved social gatherings indoors like bridal showers, parties, etc. to 50 people. Outside he reminded people to keep social distancing.
The governor said he would revisit all mandates and Phase Two on July 24, when he would consider extending it, changing it, etc.
The governor said the state had seen an increase in cases in the last two days, Thursday and Friday, more than 2,000 cases per day, setting record-high numbers. In the beginning, Louisiana was at number two in cases per state capita. On July 9, he said Louisiana was ranked tenth, but on Saturday, the state had hit the number three spot behind New York and New Jersey. His concern was the healthcare industry and whether the state’s healthcare infrastructure could handle the increasing number of cases.
“Right now, all Louisianans need to work together to reduce the spread of COVID-19 by wearing their face masks, keeping social distance, washing their hands frequently and staying at home when they are feeling sick.” He also reminded those with health conditions should consider staying home where it was safer. He said the elderly and those with conditions like diabetes, obesity, hyper tension and breathing issues should stay home.
He understood the state was doing more testing for COVID-19, but the tests were not creating the infections. He reminded residents that typically the virus lasted 14 days from the time changes began in the body. He didn’t expect to see numbers go down immediately, but he hoped everyone would work toward dropping the numbers by doing what they could to prevent the virus.
“This should not be a political issue,” he said as he explained he didn’t understand why it was an issue. He stressed the importance of wearing the mask and how every little thing could help in this fight against stopping the virus from spreading. He believed these steps were reasonable expectations in the fight against the virus.
“Closing bars is not a step I wanted to take,” he said as he explained bars were tending to be a hot spot for the virus. “This is the right thing to do under the circumstances,” he said. “We can’t let this illness win.”
Mask mandate
set by governor
The statewide mask mandate applies to all 64 parishes in Louisiana. However, parishes with a COVID-19 incidence of fewer than 100 cases per 100,000 people for the most recent two-week period for which data is available could choose to opt out of the mandate. Parish presidents do not have to opt out and may choose to keep a mask mandate in place. Currently, only three parishes in Louisiana do not exceed this standard, which will be updated every other week by the Louisiana Department of Health: Grant, Red River and West Feliciana.
The order requires face coverings for everyone ages eight and older except for the following:
•Anyone who has a medical condition that prevents the wearing of a face covering
•Anyone who is consuming a drink or food
•Anyone who is trying to communicate with a person who is hearing impaired
•Anyone who is giving a speech for broadcast or to an audience
•Anyone temporarily removing his or her face covering for identification purposes
•Anyone who is a resident of a parish without a high COVID incidence that has opted out of the masking mandate
•Masks are strongly recommended for children ages two to seven.
