How will the state enforce its new mask mandate? Kevin Barnhart has the details…
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State Education Superintendent Cade Brumley provides the House Education Committee with the guidelines on reopening schools safely. Jeff Palermo has more…
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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.
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The order comes with a few exemptions from wearing a mask, including people with certain medical conditions. Edwards says he is relying on businesses to help with encouraging individuals to mask up.
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Edwards says he knows that the mask mandate will be controversial, but adds that he believes in the people of Louisiana to be resilient.
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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.
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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.
McCormick says the Governor should not have the authority to make such an important decision unilaterally.
McCormick says lawmakers have tried to discuss their concerns with the Governor, but he won’t talk with them and doesn’t give them a heads up to lawmakers when decisions are made.
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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 face masks for students in grades three through 12. Students in lower grades will be with one teacher throughout the day and kids will not be allowed to sit together on a bus. Brumley says one positive coronavirus case will not shut down a school, but several cases could lead to a temporary closure
Schools have been closed to in-classroom instruction since Governor Edwards shut down campuses last March. Brumley admits the long time away from the classroom has produced some level of learning loss
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The Lake Charles region has fewer than two dozen ICU beds available as the area has been slammed by rising COVID-19 cases. Region Five Regional Public Health Medical Director Lacey Cavanaugh says 67 of their 89 ICU beds are in use…
Lake Charles, Jefferson Davis, and Cameron Parish all have a COVID incident rate of over 240 per 100,000, some of the highest in the state. Cavanaugh says that’s causing hospitalizations to pile up.
These numbers are behind only the Acadiana region for the highest rate in the state.
For most of the state, this dramatic rise in new cases began around mid to late June, but Cavanaugh says their issues began earlier than that.