New federal projections have cut Louisiana’s estimation of total COVID-19 deaths by over 50%, and Governor Edwards says it appears Louisiana may have begun to flatten the curve.
Edwards says social distancing rules have played a big role, but so have healthcare workers. He says they’ve managed to reduce the average amount of time patients stay on ventilators.
“We know that we are pushing out in time the day that we might overwhelm our capacity to deliver healthcare, and that is a good thing,” said Edwards.
Initial federal projections said 1,800 Louisianans would die of the disease. The current model estimates 800 fatalities.
On Monday, Louisiana reported 14,867 positive cases and 512 deaths.
But Edwards says now is no time to get complacent.
“The fear is that I’m telling people that and they are going to say well the task at hand is accomplished and we can go back to doing whatever it is that we normally do and behaving as we normally would. That is exactly the wrong answer,” says Edwards.
The projection is also based on the state maintaining its current level of social distancing through May.
Edwards says restricted travel is playing a big part in lowering transmission rates, which is why he isn’t faulting Texas’s governor for screening some drivers who cross state lines.
“I’m asking people to stay home and not engage in unessential travel. That is what the Texas governor is asking, so I’m not going to come up here and pretend to be upset with the Texas governor, I’m just not,” says Edwards.
Texas is asking anyone from Louisiana who plans on staying in Texas to quarantine themselves for 14 days.
The projections may look better but the new data wasn’t all good news. Edwards says it shows some alarming numbers of racial disparities.
“Slightly more than 70% of all of our deaths are among African Americans, who make up about 32% or so of the entire population of our state,” says Edwards.
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