Louisiana is reporting 6,424 coronavirus cases and 273 deaths. Current projections have the New Orleans region running out of ventilators by April 6th. Governor John Bel Edwards says after that date new patients who need one will be put on non-ICU standard equipment.
Cut 15 (11)“…ventilator”
Nearly 15-hundred COVID-19 patients are currently hospitalized and 490 of those require ventilation.

The federal government will send economic stimulus payments to most Americans over the next few weeks. Senior tax manager at Hannis T- Bourgeois Brad Tate says the I-R-S will use the most recent info on file to get recipients their money….
cut 8 (11) “…into your bank account”
The I-R-S says people who typically do not file a return will need to file a simple tax return to receive an economic impact payment.

The Louisiana Direct Seafood marketing program is helping fishermen sell their catch at a time when they’ve lost revenue from restaurants. Kevin Barnhart has the story.
Cut 1 (32) “I’m Kevin Barnhart”

Court records show LSU Football Coach Ed Orgeron filed for divorce from his wife Kelly on February 26th after 23 years of marriage. In the filing, Coach O says he’ll live at the former couple’s home in Baton Rouge, while Kelly has been granted exclusive use and occupancy of their Mandeville home.

150 ventilators have arrived from the federal government, but the New Orleans region is still projected to run out of the equipment early next week. Governor John Bel Edwards says once they run out of ventilators, they will try to assist patients with breathing machines that are normally not used in intensive care units…
cut 16 (11) “….need them”
273 people have died from COVID-19 in Louisiana nearly 200 of those fatalities are from the Orleans and Jefferson Parishes. St. John the Baptist Parish is reporting 13 deaths.

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries says social media posts that say fishing or other outdoor activities have been banned is fake news. L-D-W-F spokesperson Renee LeBreton urges the public to trust state government to tell you what is and is not allowed right now…
cut 12 (08) “…there”

The Treasury Department and IRS announce the distribution of the economic impact payments will be sent out in the next three weeks. Senior tax manager at Hannis T. Bourgeois Brad Tate says an income of $75,000 for individuals and $150,000 for married couples will be the dividing line between getting a full $1,200 or a smaller payment.
Cut 7 (09) “…married filing jointly.”
The I-R-S says Social Security recipients who do not normally send in a tax return will have to file a “simple” tax return, which will be available soon.

A website called Louisiana-Direct-Seafood-Dot-com is trying to help fishermen sell their harvest as sales are down. LSU AgCenter coastal agent Rusty Gaude says the website posts from harvesters detail on what they’ve caught, prioritizing the post order by the freshest catch…
cut 5 (09) “….messages get buried”

Governor Edwards paints a grim picture of just how long, and how severe the coronavirus epidemic could get in Louisiana as the nation braces for an estimated 100,000-240,000 COVID deaths. The governor plans to keep the state’s stay at home order through April 30th, but Edwards says life will not return to normal for a long time.
Cut 13 (09) “…vaccine”
Louisiana saw another big jump in deaths and coronavirus cases yesterday with 34 more fatalities and 11-hundred more positive cases. The total death toll is up to 273.

Louisiana has lost its first healthcare worker to the virus. Larrice Anderson worked as a nurse at New Orleans East Hospital. She passed away after testing positive for COVID-19.

The IRS will soon allocate money from the $2.2 trillion emergency relief bill into the bank accounts of Americans…
Cut 2 (33) “…Kevin Barnhart ”

If you are looking to purchase a large amount of seafood, you can do so directly from a fishermen by using to Louisiana-Direct-Seafood-dot-com. LSU AgCenter coastal agent Rusty Gaude (GO-TAY)…
cut 4 (11) “….with that catch”

The reported death toll has risen by 34 from COVID-19 in Louisiana, down from yesterday’s high of 54, but still one of the highest days on record. We’re now over 6,400 confirmed state cases with 1,500 hospitalizations for COVID-19. The state’s total reported fatalities: 273.

The oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia and the coronavirus pandemic has brought the state’s oil and gas industry to its knees. Jeff Palermo has the story…

Cut 2 (30) “…I’m Jeff Palermo” 

The New Orleans region is now projected to run out of ventilators for COVID-19 patients on April 6th, and the state is scrambling to try and secure more. When you combine requests to the feds and private companies, Louisiana has requested 14,000 ventilators total, but Edwards says that doesn’t mean 14,000 people are projected to need them.
Cut 11 (11) “…time.”
490 COVID-19 patients are on ventilators in Louisiana as of the noon update.
LSU’s DeepDrug team is using artificial intelligence to analyze anti-viral drugs or drug combinations that could be used to treat COVID-19 patients. LSU Computer Science Professor Supratik Mukhopadhyay (Moo-co-pod-a) says drugs like hydroxychloroquine appear promising, but cardiac patients shouldn’t take the anti-malarial…

Cut 12 (07) “…patients”

The New Orleans region is now projected to run out of ventilators for COVID-19 patients on April 6th. The state received 150 ventilators from the feds today, but that number has already been factored into models warning of a shortage this weekend. Governor Edwards says at least…
Cut 10 (09) “…ICU”
490 COVID-19 patients are on ventilators in Louisiana as of the noon update.
LSU’s DeepDrug team is using artificial intelligence to analyze anti-viral drugs, or drug combinations that could be used to treat COVID-19 patients. Once the ten to fifteen possibilities are discovered, LSU Computer Science Professor Supratik Mukhopadhyay (Moo-co-pod-a) says LSU will move to test them in more traditional clinical and lab settings.
Cut 14 (08) “…week”
DeepDrug is a current semifinalist for the IBM Watson AI X-PRIZE.

Baton Rouge Congressman Garret Graves is encouraging small businesses to get a jump on filling out applications for the Payroll Protection Act. Small businesses can apply to receive low-interest loans, with money that is used for payroll being forgiven. Graves says the funding is not intended to float the payrolls of small businesses for the rest of the year.

Cut 5 (08)  “…4 month period.”

The program is part of the $2.2 trillion emergency relief legislation.

As oil prices continue to drop the outlook for Louisiana workers in the industry continues to look bleak. Oil is trading in the low twenties and President of the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association Gifford Briggs says the situation is dire and two weeks ago when he surveyed members the predictions were extreme.

Cut 6 (11) “…90 days.”

The New Orleans region is now projected to run out of ventilators for COVID-19 patients on April 6th. Governor Edwards says they’re scouring the medical community trying to figure out where they might have ventilators that are not in need, even if they aren’t high-powered ICU models.

Cut 9 (10) “…at all.″

490 COVID-19 patients are on ventilators in Louisiana as of the noon update.
LSU’s DeepDrug team is using artificial intelligence to analyze anti-viral drugs, or drug combinations that could be used to treat COVID-19 patients. The FDA has approved about 90 antiviral treatments for general use, and LSU Computer Science Professor Supratik Mukhopadhyay (Moo-co-pod-a) says each will be simulated to see how it would treat COVID patients.

Cut 13 (07) “…them”

Baton Rouge Congressman Garret Graves is encouraging small businesses to get a jump on filling out applications for the Payroll Protection Act. Small businesses can apply to receive low-interest loans, with money that is used for payroll being forgiven. Graves says applications will be accepted starting April 3.
Cut 3 (10)  “…applications are accepted.”  
The program is part of the $2.2 trillion emergency relief legislation, but this particular allocation is subject to a funding cap, adding to the urgency of filing quickly.
As oil prices continue to drop the outlook for Louisiana workers in the industry continues to look bleak. Oil is trading in the low twenties and President of the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association Gifford Briggs says if prices do not recover by June first, storage facilities for oil will reach capacity and that’s when the industry will most definitely see a reduction in workers.
Cut 8 (10) “…everywhere else.”

34 people died over the last day from COVID-19 in Louisiana, down from yesterday’s high of 54, but still one of the highest days on record. We’re now over 6,400 confirmed state cases with 1,500 hospitalizations for COVID, and 490 patients on ventilators.

And with the economy stalling out, Baton Rouge Congressman Garret Graves urges small businesses to start filling out the application for the Payroll Protection Act….

Cut 1 (29) “…I’m Kevin Barnhart” 

As oil prices hover in the low 20s the outlook for Louisiana workers in the energy sector is looking increasingly precarious. President of the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association Gifford Briggs says local companies are taking a huge hit in profits not only from the virus but also from Saudi Arabia and Russia ramping up production. Briggs says the two factors have resulted in a 90-percent reduction in prices for Louisiana Light Sweet Crude Oil since January.

Cut 7 (07) “…three months.”

Briggs also blames the Saudi/Russian price war for industry struggles.

When you combine requests to the feds and private companies, Louisiana has requested 14,000 ventilators ahead of what could be a shortage impacting the state starting this weekend. Governor Edwards says when you see that 14,000 number though, that doesn’t mean that many people will need the devices.

Cut 11 (11) “…time.”

The New Orleans region could run out of ventilators for COVID-19 patients sometime this weekend. Governor Edwards says they’re scouring the medical community trying to figure out where they might have ventilators. The state will be receiving about 150 ventilators from the feds today, but that number has already been factored into models warning of a shortage this weekend. At least…
Cut 10 (09) “…ICU”
490 COVID-19 patients are on ventilators in Louisiana as of the noon update.
LSU’s DeepDrug team is using artificial intelligence to analyze anti-viral drugs, or drug combinations that could be used to treat COVID-19 patients. LSU Computer Science Professor Supratik Mukhopadhyay (Moo-co-pod-a) says drugs like hydroxychloroquine appear promising, but cardiac patients shouldn’t take the anti-malarial…
Cut 12 (07) “…patients”

Baton Rouge Congressman Garret Graves is encouraging small businesses to get a jump on filling out applications for the Payroll Protection Act. Small businesses can apply to receive low-interest loans, with money that is used for payroll being forgiven. Graves says the funds will help keep businesses from making layoffs and firings.
Cut  4 (07)_ “…families above water.”
The program is part of the $2.2 trillion emergency relief legislation, but this particular allocation is subject to a funding cap, adding to the urgency of filing quickly.

As oil prices continue to drop the outlook for Louisiana workers in the industry continues to look bleak. Oil is trading in the low twenties and President of the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association Gifford Briggs says the situation is dire and two weeks ago when he surveyed members the predictions were extreme.
Cut 6 (11) “…90 days.”

The state is reporting 6424 cases of the coronavirus and 273 deaths an increase 1,187 cases, just shy of yesterday’s highest reported increased. The death toll increased by 34 today.  1498 of the reported cases are currently hospitalized.

The oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia and the coronavirus pandemic has brought the state’s oil and gas industry to its knees. Jeff Palermo has the story…

Cut 2 (31) “…I’m Matt Doyle” 

The New Orleans region is facing a potentially life-threatening situation, according to current projections, of running out of ventilators sometime this weekend. Governor Edwards says they’re currently scouring the medical community trying to figure out where they might have ventilators that are not in need, even if they aren’t high-powered ICU models.

Cut 9 (10) “…at all.″

Baton Rouge Congressman Garret Graves is encouraging small businesses to get a jump on filling out applications for the Payroll Protection Act. Graves says the funding is not intended to float the payrolls of small businesses for the rest of the year.

Cut 5 (08)  “…4 month period.”

The program is part of the $2.2 trillion emergency relief legislation, but this particular allocation is subject to a funding cap, adding to the urgency of filing quickly.

Tuesday was the deadliest day in Louisiana’s fight against the coronavirus as the state reported 54 new deaths to bring the death toll to 239. Louisiana is also reporting 52-hundred cases as over 12-hundred new cases were reported yesterday. Governor John Bel Edwards…
Cut 8 (09) “…gets.”
Edwards says they know that the stay-at-home order and social distancing works and we’ll eventually see the results.

Baton Rouge Congressman Garret Graves is encouraging businesses to get a jump on filling out applications for the Payroll Protection Act. Small businesses can apply to receive low-interest loans, with money that is used for payroll being forgiven. Graves says applications will be accepted starting April 3.

Cut 3 (10)  “…applications are accepted.”  

Pastor Tony Spell of the Life Tabernacle Church in Central in East Baton Rouge Parish faces six misdemeanor charges for holding large services, which goes against Governor Edwards ban on large gatherings. East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore on why six counts…

Cut 11 (11) “…different days.”

More charges could be coming, as Reverend Spell held another large service last night.

Tulane Medical Center Laboratories might have an answer to the widespread frustration over the wait for test results for the coronavirus. Medical Director Dr. Byron Crawford says they already have the recently approved FDA equipment on-site and he’s confident this kind of technology will be widely available to other medical centers, and soon.

Cut 15 (08)“…patients”

The project is a joint venture by Tulane, LSU School of Medicine, Children’s Medical Center, and UMC