Faced with coronavirus cases and hospitalizations before Thanksgiving, Governor John Bel Edwards announced Tuesday that he will switch Louisiana back to a modified version of Phase 2, closing many bars and instructing most businesses to take 50% utilization. the year.
Edwards says the number of gatherings will be 75 indoors and 150 outdoors. Restaurants, retailers and other businesses are moving from 75% to 50%. Parish bars with test positivity greater than 5% should be close to indoor consumption unless they have a restaurant conditional license, in which case they can operate at 50%. The order takes effect on Wednesday, ahead of a Thanksgiving celebration that health experts are worried about, the virus will spread family and friends to unprecedented levels for personal celebrations.
Edwards said at a news conference announcing the changes that Louisiana was “in a rough spot.”
“Because of the path we’ve taken … We definitely need to act, and we need to act now,” Edwards said.
Governor John Bel Edwards is expected to address the latest table of coronavirus restrictions in the state of Louisiana ahead of Thanksgiving.
The new restrictions will virtually close bars that do not serve food in Baton Rouge and most parishes, although the new order will allow them to operate outdoor seating for less than 50 people. According to the Department of Health, only a few parishes – including Orleans, St. Bernard, Plaquemines and a few other rural parishes – still have low enough positivity to keep the bars open. The positives of the parishes of Jefferson, Lafayette, Caddo and East Baton Rouge exceed 5%.
While the order will be in effect until the end of December, the governor has indicated that the restrictions will remain in place until the end of the year. They start on Wednesday.
“This is the first week in many weeks that Louisiana really has more new cases than the national average,” Edwards said Tuesday afternoon.
Edwards describes the worsening coronavirus trends that have become worse than the national average in Louisiana. “This is the first week in many weeks that Louisiana really has more new cases than the national average.” #lalege #lagov
– Sam Karlin (@samkarlin) November 24, 2020
Edwards ’order doesn’t affect Tiger Stadium, where LSU can still host thousands of fans – the school can hold up to 25% capacity – at home football matches. And that doesn’t eliminate high school football as the teams get into the playoffs. Instead, high school football stadiums can receive 25% of fans in stadiums. Some parishes were able to fill 50% of their stadiums.
He also left decisions about schools to local tank districts. Churches remain at 75% as Edwards has avoided delving into the most politically serious issues of the pandemic.
These businesses must adhere to a 50% capacity based on social isolation and mask assignments:
- Gyms and fitness centers
- Restaurants, cafes and coffee shops
- Casinos and video poker
- Not basic retail
Edwards also encourages business owners to make the most of telecommuting.
A few weeks ago, when Governor John Bel Edwards warned that parts of the state were well on their way to consuming fans amid a coronavirus surge, Dr.…
After weeks of avoiding a wave of cases and hospitalizations never seen before across the country, Louisiana has definitely entered the fall wave. New cases a week soared north from 11,000 on Monday, up from 4,000 a month ago.
The biggest concern for public health officials is that hospital treatments have reached 1,000 for the first time since Aug. 21. At its most recent peak, during a summer wave of infection that prompted the governor to receive nationwide masks and shutters, hospital care reached 1,600. On Tuesday, the number rose further to 1052.
The White House Coronavir Virus Task Force sent increasingly worsening reports of the surge to Louisiana. This week, the task force stated that “all states and parishes need to flatten the curve” to maintain health capacity, and said “significant behavioral change” is needed to curb it.
As Thanksgiving Day approaches and we reflect in 2020, I will humble myself and be deeply grateful for the sacrifices made by the heroic doctors, nurses …
“Always provide masks to the public, increase physical distance by significantly reducing public and private indoor capacities, and make sure every American understands the clear risk of any interaction from ANY family or friend outside their immediate household, indoors.” said.
Leaders at the Louisiana Hospital have warned that the level of infections is constantly flooding health facilities around the state. Last week, when Edwards and other leaders called on people not to hold big Thanksgiving gatherings, Dr. Christopher Thomas, a critically cared-for doctor at Our Lady of the Lake, said overworked nurses and other health workers stop and the hospital doesn’t have the the ability to survive new waves experienced in the summer.
“We have beds,” Thomas said. “What we don’t have is enough nurses in all the beds in all the hospitals in Louisiana.
Dr. Susanne Straif-Bourgeois, a professor of epidemiology at the LSU New Orleans Center for Health Sciences, said, “Unfortunately, I think it might be a good idea” to introduce new restrictions.
However, Straif-Bourgeois said the restrictions could result in declining returns as more people experience “COVID fatigue” and host gatherings in their homes.
State and federal officials are issuing familiar warnings to Louisiana residents as the coronavirus epidemic once again firmly seizes the…
“It’s a big COVID-19 fatigue, and I think it’s very hard to get to people where the incidence of the disease is very high in Louisiana, so there’s a much higher risk of getting and infecting someone,” he said. – People are tired.
“I’m afraid people don’t really think about it anymore.” Holidays are coming, Thanksgiving, Christmas are coming, everyone wants to get together. “
In a letter to news television, Paul Salles, president of the Louisiana Hospital Association, wrote that “while we can build additional beds and recycle hospital floors, it is extremely difficult to find and train caregivers to properly treat patients if there is no established problem. the spread of the virus in our community. “
The restrictions will come when Edwards, the Democrats, continues to confront Republican officials in Louisiana. GOP members of the State House sent him a petition in late October ordering the removal of all Louisiana virus restrictions – which would have allowed bars, restaurants and other businesses to operate at 100% capacity without a mask. The judge found the move unconstitutional and awarded Attorney General Jeff Landry a defeat in court.
Republican state representative Larry Bagley on Monday invited the House Health and Welfare Committee to a hearing to hear parents complain that their children have to wear masks and see their limited sports seasons due to restrictions. Several questioned whether the masks were useful. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and several health experts have repeatedly said that wearing tissue clothing limits the spread of the virus.
