A federal judge in New Orleans rejects a request by ten southeast Louisiana bar owners to stop the statewide order closing bars. Loyola Law Professor Dane Ciolino says this is what he expected out of the federal court because the standard of review for public health declarations is highly deferential to local authorities.
Cut 9, 12 seconds, constitution
The bar owners argued that shutting down bars violated equal protection under the constitution and that they did not receive due process.
A new saliva test for COVID-19, known as SalivaDirect, gets the thumbs up from the FDA. LSU Health New Orleans infectious disease expert Dr. Catherine O’Neal says this test differs from other saliva tests because not only is it a quick and easy collection, but they can skip the extraction step saving time and money.
Researchers at Yale say they expect labs will only charge about $10 per sample with this test.
Senator John Kennedy pens a letter to Governor Edwards asking him to rescind the capacity cap on houses of worship, and to deem those houses of worship essential so that they can operate more freely under current COVID restrictions. Louisiana Family Forum President Gene Mills supports the request, and says current restrictions are leading some folks to not go to church when they otherwise would…
Members of the Legislative Audit Advisory Council were left fuming after yesterday’s meeting thanks to DeSoto and Red River Parish officials, who did not show up to discuss their spreading of now-debunked claims on social media that Department of Health COVID case counts were not accurate. Alexandria Senator Jay Luneau says they now have evidence that those officials violated HIPPA by disseminating lists of infected people’s names, and says their refusal to attend cannot happen again.