At his Thursday press conference, Governor Edwards explained his administration’s thought process behind the current restrictions on bars, saying they are necessary to keep COVID-transmission low and save lives.
Bars in parishes that can open can only serve until 11 PM, can only do table service, and are limited to 25 percent capacity. Edwards said these aren’t arbitrary rules.
“It is a safer way to open and we were able to look at what other states had done and we looked at guidance that was being provided by the White House Coronavirus Task Force,” said Edwards.
Those under 21 are now not allowed to enter bars.
Only bars in parishes with lower than a five percent positivity rate on new COVID tests may open. Edwards said that’s because areas with higher rates just have too much community spread.
“You look at the percent positivity, you look at new hospitalizations, you look at new cases, all of it, but the first sign that you are doing worse often shows up in that percent positivity,” said Edwards.
About a third of parishes are still blocked from allowing bars to reopen.
Edwards Administration staff have frequently repeated that bars create environments conducive to the spread of coronavirus, and Edwards said we can’t risk more youth cases with colleges now reopened.
“Right now people who are under 29 account for 40 percent of all new COVID cases,” said Edwards.
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