Governor Edwards’ statewide mask mandate is now in effect. The new order comes following the state reporting some of the highest new daily case counts of the pandemic. Edwards says the timing of when mask-wearing is required is clear.
Cut 3 (05) “…distant from others..”
Only three parishes are exempt from the mandate due to the per capita infection rate, but mask-wearing is still very much encouraged. Grant, Red River, and West Feliciana parishes have fewer than 100 cases per 100,000 people.
Opponents of the Governor’s statewide mask mandate say Governor Edwards should not have the authority to make decisions like this by himself. Oil City Representative Danny McCormick is a signee of a Legislative effort to suspend the Governor’s public health emergency declaration. He says Edwards’ order is an attack on liberty.
State Education Superintendent Cade Brumley tells the House Education Committee that reopening schools next month during a pandemic will be a monumental task, but they’ve provided local school systems with guidance on how it can be done. Brumley says it all starts with good hygiene
Brumley says they are also recommending that students in grades three through 12 wear face masks.
And young adults are still the primary driver of this recent explosion in cases, with Louisiana nearing 80,000 total confirmed positive tests since the start of the pandemic. Assistant State Health Officer, Doctor Joe Kanter, says those young adults are catching the virus and passing it along to older residents who are then getting very, very sick.
Cut 12 (07) increase in deaths”
The state is reporting over 33-hundred deaths.