BATON ROUGE — Following almost six weeks of improvements in Louisiana’s COVID case counts and a sustained decrease in COVID-related hospitalizations, Gov. John Bel Edwards announced that Louisiana will move forward to Phase 3.
This will bring most COVID restrictions back to where they were last September. Louisiana’s statewide mask mandate, which has been in place since last July, will remain in place. The governor’s new order will last for 28 days and will expire March 31.
Overall, Louisiana’s percent positivity for COVID-19 tests is 5%, one third of the positivity rate six weeks ago. The state has completed more than 6 million COVID tests and administered more than 1 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccines.
St. Landry Parish remains at high risk for the virus, according to the state’s Department of Health’s COVID-19 dashboard.
The parish’s positivity rate has decreased dramatically to 2.6% during the Feb. 18 to 24 period, down from 3.3% in the previous period ending Feb. 17.
St. Landry Parish’s death toll form the virus is at 244 as of Wednesday with positive cases at 8,322.
The case count in the Eunice Zip codes totals 751 since the pandemic began.
“Since we stepped back into more increased restrictions more than three months ago, the goal has been to slow the spread and avoid overwhelming our hospitals, which we have done thanks to the hard work of many Louisianans,” Edwards said. “These Phase 3 restrictions will keep some common sense and lifesaving limitations in place while we work to continue keeping the case counts down and administering the vaccines to as many Louisianans as quickly as we can.
“As we are cautiously reducing some of the restrictions related to slowing the spread of COVID, it is even more critical that people take the necessary precautions to protect themselves and those around them. This includes wearing face masks, practicing social distancing, washing their hands frequently, staying home when they are sick or have been exposed and getting the vaccine when it is their turn. The last several weeks have been full of hopeful milestones, including a third COVID vaccine and the state administering more than one million doses. But we also know that COVID variants, which we know are more contagious, are active in Louisiana. In nearly a year of battling this pandemic, we have lost almost 10,000 of our fellow Louisianans, and many people have suffered greatly. It is incumbent upon all of us to do our part to help put this pandemic behind us and save lives.”
The majority of businesses, including restaurants and salons, will be able to move to 75% of their capacity and indoor gatherings and event centers will be capped at 50% of their capacity but limited to 250 people. Religious services will no longer have capacity limits, social distancing is strongly encouraged and masking will still be required.
Gyms and fitness centers will remain at 50% of their capacity, based on recent research from the CDC that raises concern about the spread of COVID-19 in these settings. Bars in all parishes will be able to open for indoor service at 25% capacity, not to exceed 250 people, but those in parishes where the percent positivity is 5% or lower for two consecutive weeks may have indoor service at 50% capacity, not to exceed 250 people. Alcohol sales still must end at 11 p.m. and no one younger than 21 years old can enter a bar. Patrons must be masked at all times except when consuming food or drink, and they must be served at socially distanced tables.
Live music will be allowed indoors under additional guidance provided by the State Fire Marshal. Indoor gatherings may operate at 50% capacity with a cap of 250 people. Outdoor events may operate at 50% of their capacity, with no cap on attendance, but six feet of social distancing must be practiced. Conventions, conferences, indoor sporting events and fairs and festivals may operate at up to 50% capacity with six feet of social distancing required, if they receive approval from the State Fire Marshal and the Louisiana Department of Health. Strict masking continues to be required for all gatherings and events.
Louisiana is set to receive almost 38,000 doses of Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot COVID vaccine this week, a boost to the state’s effort to inoculate a large majority of its population. The Joe Biden administration told the state Tuesday it likely won’t receive another shipment until the end of the month.
Next week, the state will get 102,330 doses of vaccine, coming entirely from Pfizer’s and Moderna’s products, Kanter said.
Edwards, a Catholic, said he spoke to New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond on Sunday, a day before Aymond released a statement calling the Johnson & Johnson vaccine “morally compromised” because of its connection to abortion-derived cell lines.
But Edwards said he didn’t read Aymond’s statement as telling Catholics it’s completely unacceptable to get the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. He also pointed to a statement by Baton Rouge’s Roman Catholic Bishop Michael Duca Monday that said members of his flock may receive the Johnson & Johnson vaccine if no other vaccine is available.
Edwards said people won’t be able to go to a vaccine site and “be given a menu” to choose between vaccines.
“You do have to weigh this with the common good of ending a pandemic,” Edwards said. “The fastest way to do this is deploy all the vaccines and have the uptake of the vaccines be as great as possible.”
Additional reporting from The Advocate.