LRN PM Newscall August 3 2021

The governor’s new indoor mask mandate means school children from five years and up will return to the classroom with face coverings. Brooke Thorington has more from the State Superintendent of Education.

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Max Johnson enters preseason camp as the starting quarterback after Myles Brennan broke his non-throwing arm. Jeff Palermo has the story…

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The upcoming school year is days away and the Governor’s reinstated indoor mask mandate will require those ages five and up to wear face coverings. Superintendent of Education Dr. Cade Brumley says prior to this new executive order, his department advised each school system to enact its own policy.

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According to 2021 LEAP assessments Brumley says it’s very clear that in-person learning is far more beneficial than virtual learning and he supports measures that will keep students in the physical classroom while also mitigating against COVID.

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LEAP results will be released Wednesday. Brumley says they indicate students in grades 3 through 8 who attended in person scored mastery or above on English Language Arts and Math, their scores were 15-percent higher than students who attended virtually.

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In addition to the pandemic, Louisiana students have also been impacted by hurricanes, but Brumley feels with both local and state initiatives that resilient students and residents will help them move beyond the setbacks.

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LSU Quarterback Myles Brennan has suffered an injury to his non-throwing arm and Coach Ed Orgeron says the injury will require surgery. Tiger Rag Editor Ron Higgins has learned Brennan broke his humerus bone…

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The Athletic’s Brody Miller reports Brennan suffered the injury while fishing. Max Johnson is now set to be LSU’s starting Q-B. Higgins says freshman Garrett Nussmeier is the only other healthy scholarship quarterback on the roster…

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Brennan and Johnson were expected to have an intense competition for starting quarterback during preseason camp. This is Brennan’s fifth year at LSU, but there’s a lot of faith in Johnson, who won both his starts last season. Higgins knows Brennan is disappointed, but expect him to remain a big part of the team

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The statewide indoor mask mandate goes into effect tomorrow as the state sets an all-time high for COVID-related hospitalizations. Governor Edwards says just because the mandate doesn’t begin until tomorrow doesn’t mean you shouldn’t start masking up today.

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Louisiana now has 2,112 COVID-related hospitalizations, the highest ever mark. Louisiana has the fastest per-capita growth in new COVID cases in the nation, reporting 47-hundred new cases today. 59 COVID-related deaths were also reported today, the highest number since mid-January.

Edwards says the enforcement provision of the mask mandate is the same that it was when the state last had the mandate in late April.

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The mandate appears to be more of an effort to reaffirm the importance of masking than it is an effort to force people to wear a mask.

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The mandate is set to expire on September 1st.

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Tangipahoa Parish ranks second in the nation for new coronavirus cases per capita when compared to over counties or parishes. That’s according to the New York Times tracker map. President of the North Oaks Health System Michele Sutton says their I-C-U units and emergency rooms are packed with COVID patients, making it difficult to care for others who do not have COVID

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Sutton says their staff is also seeing deaths of young people as a result of COVID, including a 24-year-old unvaccinated person…

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Sutton is also concerned about hospital workers’ morale as most of these severe COVID illnesses and deaths could have been prevented if the victims got vaccinated…

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