Photo courtesy of Governor Edwards' twitter feed
Before receiving the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, Governor John Bel Edwards announced on Tuesday that he’s extending the modified Phase Two order for another three weeks but indicated he is open to relaxing the restrictions in March.
Edwards said the state has made good progress in pushing back the virus over the last month, but the baseline numbers that guide his policymaking remain too high to relax restrictions just yet.
“Those numbers are percent positive, new cases, hospitalizations, we still have twice as many people for example in the hospital that we had over the summer, and deaths,” said Edwards.
The state has crossed a threshold this week in the fight against COVID, more people have been vaccinated than have tested positive.
Edwards said he’s concerned that the good progress we have made could be undone by the rapidly spreading UK variant which is 50 more infectious, and 30 percent more deadly. He warned that within the next month it is projected to become the dominant strain in Louisiana. CDC models show the UK variant doubling in prevalence every ten days.
Edwards said if folks continue to mask up and socially distance he’s bullish on the possibility of lowering restrictions in three weeks.
“I am very hopeful that when we next announce a new proclamation that we will be able to ease some restrictions if we continue on the path we currently are on,” said Edwards.
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