Governor Edwards extends the statewide stay at home order to May 15th citing concerning levels of case growth outside of the Metro New Orleans epicenter.
Cases have recently increased in northeast Louisiana, Baton Rouge, and Acadiana, and Edwards says every doctor and scientist advising him agreed with the extension.
“Louisiana does not have consistent decreases in both new cases and new hospitalizations, and it is not just one or two regions. In one third of our regions Louisiana is still seeing new increases in case counts,” says Edwards.
Vice President Mike Pence was informed of the plan and agreed with it as well.
Edwards says the stay at home order has not been a failure, and it helped the state avoid a worst-case scenario but it hasn’t slowed case growth fast enough just yet.
“We have got at least 10,000 COVID-19 positive people in Louisiana right now and all 10,000 of them became ill during the stay at home order just to put this into perspective,” says Edwards.
Three minor changes were announced as well allowing pick up outside mall-based retail stores, customers to eat takeout orders outside of restaurants, and one requiring employees working with the public to wear masks.
Stay at home orders in neighboring Mississippi and Texas are set to end this week, but Edwards says you can’t compare us to them.
“We are still sixth in cases per capita for the entire country and as best as I can tell none of the top ten states are moving towards a Phase One opening on May 1st,” says Edwards.
Edwards says the next announcement on the stay at home order’s status will be made May 11th.
https://gov.louisiana.gov/assets/Graphics/caronavirus/govCV19Brief-4-27-20.pdf
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