Colleges and universities will publicly report on-campus COVID-19 case data each week with the total weekly tally of cases appearing on the state’s COVID-19 dashboard. Kevin Barnhart has the story.
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The National Hurricane Center is forecasting two hurricanes will be in the Gulf of Mexico next week. Jeff Palermo has the story…
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Colleges and universities will publicly report on-campus COVID-19 case data each week. Assistant Health Secretary Dr. Alex Billioux says the main goal is to pinpoint where outbreaks occur in an effort to mitigate further spread.
Cut 3 (11) “…early as possible.”
Billioux says it will be a challenge to handle college outbreaks in the same way of dealing with certain types of business or buildings as on a campus, you’ve got both on-campus and off-campus living, sprawling buildings, and a variety of places that could be linked to outbreaks.
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Some colleges, including LSU, are doing their own contact tracing and surveillance efforts. Billioux says state officials are working with school officials to answer any questions they may have and give them policy recommendations.
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The total weekly tally of cases reported by universities will appear on the state’s COVID-19 dashboard.
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An Ochsner anti-body survey of the Baton Rouge region uncovers some unsettling data about COVID-19.
Ochsner Research Scientist Dr. Amy Feehan says they discovered 61 percent of those who tested positive for a contagious infection were not showing symptoms and likely didn’t know they were carrying the virus.
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The survey says a demographically representative sample of 2,100 people in the roughly 550,000 person region were tested. The survey provided data similar to what was found in a New Orleans region study that Blacks were three times as likely as whites to get infected.
Feehan says those who reported the loss of smell and taste were eight and a half times more likely to test positive for COVID-19, and it’s no simple allergy season kind of sensory loss…
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During the summer second wave Baton Rouge became a nationally recognized hotspot of COVID transmission, but Feehan says despite that only about 10 percent of the population has antibodies…
Cut 8 (05) “area”
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There’s the potential for two hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico next week. State Climatologist Barry Keim says one of the storms is expected to enter the Gulf on Sunday after moving over the Yucatan Penisula. Keim says the official forecast track calls for this system to develop into a hurricane as it approaches the Louisiana-Texas coastline
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Keim says southwest Louisiana needs to be on guard and so does southeast Louisiana as that part of the state is in the cone of uncertainty for Tropical Storm Laura which will most past south Florida on Monday
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Weather experts say it’s been since 1933 since there have been two named storms in the Gulf of Mexico.
Laura is expected to make landfall as a hurricane on the northern gulf coast on Wednesday while the other storm system could make landfall in Louisiana or Texas on Tuesday.
Cut 11 (08) “…both of them.”
Heavy rainfall is the greatest threat to the area, with two to six inches forecasted Monday through Thursday. Strong winds and elevated tides are also possible.
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A Baton Rouge man who killed a woman in a high-speed wreck last summer after he says God told him to kill himself is found not guilty by reason of insanity. 19-year-old Jack Jordan’s attorney, James Manasseh, says three medical experts observed his client and said he was not of sound mind at the time of the incident, and the district attorney agreed.
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Stephanie Payne was idling at a Baton Rouge intersection on July 22nd when Jordan slammed his vehicle into hers at over 90 miles per hour.
Manasseh says it’s the definition of a tragedy and one no one saw coming from Jordan who was described as a good student on his way to college.
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Jordan does not appear to have had a history of drug or alcohol use or a criminal record.
Manasseh says Jordan’s next court hearing is in October.
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Manasseh says his client is responding well to medication and therapy and has acknowledged that he does have a severe mental illness.
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The Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness is bracing for the potential of two tropical systems impacting Louisiana next week. GOHSEP spokesperson Mike Steele says conference calls with coastal parishes have already begun
Cut 15 (13) “at that time.”
Steele says the storms are a reminder that it is important for residents to develop a plan of action and shore up their hurricane supply kits with enough supplies to sustain every member of the family for at least three days.
Cut 16 (11) “…things become strained.”