Effective Wednesday Louisiana will return to a statewide indoor mask mandate. Governor Edwards announced the move Monday citing the danger posed by the Delta variant, which is driving a record surge in new cases and impacting children at a higher rate than previous strains of coronavirus.
Edwards, explaining his rationale, said Louisiana now has, by far, the fastest per capita growth of new cases in the nation and we’re on track to blow past our highest ever number of COVID-related hospitalizations. The Governor suggested it is clear that his Friday issuance of a mask advisory would not be enough to slow down the surge.
“I’m asking individuals don’t wait until Wednesday to come into compliance with this, there will be a lot more transmission if you wait,” said Edwards.
The Governor was backed up by some of the biggest business lobbies in the state including the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, the National Federation of Independent Businesses, the Louisiana Mid-Continental Oil and Gas Association, and the Louisiana Restaurant Association.
LRA President Stan Harris spoke at the Monday press conference. He said the state’s mom and pop businesses cannot afford another shut down so they need residents to mask up to save hospital capacity.
“We’re back again. I’m a non-healthcare person, I’m a business person and it is scary to hear what our hospital partners are going through across the state,” said Harris. “None of us are happy that we have to implement this mitigation step, but it is a simple one we can all take to reduce the current spike in COVID.”
Harris asked people visiting restaurants during this time to be courteous to staff when it comes to public health regulations. He said they’re under a lot of stress and need you to comply so they can stay open.
“If you are concerned about going to a restaurant use take out, use drive-through, use delivery, but our industry asks you, please, mask up when you visit,” said Harris.
One of the reasons cited for the decision to reinstate the mandate was the growing mountain of evidence suggesting Delta is much more dangerous to children than last year’s version of the virus. Children’s Hospital New Orleans Chief Academic Officer Dr. Mark Kline was one of several state healthcare leaders who spoke. He said more kids are getting sick with COVID than at any time before.
“Every children’s facility in the state is absolutely full. I know at Children’s Hospital New Orleans we have not had an empty bed in any of our intensive care units for weeks,” said Kline. “I am as worried about our children today as I have ever been.”
Kline implored residents not to buy into the myth that children are immune to COVID, or that only children with preexisting conditions were at risk of severe cases. He said that wasn’t true last year, and it’s much less true now that Delta is the dominant strain.
“Half of the children that we are seeing today were perfectly healthy children who have been infected with COVID then required admission to the hospital or the intensive care unit,” said Kline who noted statistics from the Department of Health showing of the 11,000 COVID cases reported since Friday over 2,000 of them were children.
The mandate is set to expire September 1st
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