Harlan Kirgan
About 50 leaders from St. Landry, Acadia and Evangeline parishes met Wednesday to discuss reopening the economy after nearly five weeks of a partial shutdown to slow the spread of COVID-19.
State Rep. Phillip DeVillier, R-Eunice, organized the meeting at the Acadian Center on the LSUE campus to come up with a unified plan to reopen.
DeVillier’s District 41 includes Eunice, Basile, Church Point and Iota, and most of rural Acadia Parish.
“We would like to see us begin the process of reopening. Doing it in a very commonsense approach. Doing it smart and just working together to send a unified message. Just continue what we’ve been doing,” DeVillier said about reopening the economy.
“I feel like our area has done really well because of meetings like this and listening to our constituents and giving them the answers to the questions they may have,” he said.
Gov. John Bel Edwards issued a stay-at-home order and closures that took effect on March 23 as the number of CLOVID-19 cases soared in the state.
Shortly after the order, DeVillier called a meeting at the Eunice Municipal Complex to discuss the coronavirus crisis with the District 41 leaders. The discussion then centered mostly on the supplies such as masks, tests and other issues directly related to the virus.
Wednesday’s meeting had many of the same mayors, fire and police chiefs focusing on reopening business such as bars, restaurants and other small businesses shuttered by the virus.
Basile Mayor Mark Denette said, “I don’t know of any positive cases in Basile. I know it has opened our eyes to our community as far as safety and keeping distance.”
Denette said the public has done its part in battling the virus.
“Do we open up Hacienda and let 100 people go in and two weeks later 80 of the are sick? I don’t know,” he said.
Iota Mayor Cody Lecklelt said there were three positive cases in Iota, but no deaths.
“We’ve got to move forward,” he said.
Church Point Mayor Ryan “Spanky” Meche worked the numbers and noted that out of about 60,000 people in Acadia Parish there had been 117 positive cases — about 0.0019% of the population.
“Get this thing opened and get people back to work and get this thing rolling again,” he said.
Eunice Mayor Scott Fontenot said, “I think it should be opened, but we want to protect the health in our community also.”
Fontenot said the city is looking at reopening its walking trail, city lake and golf course.
There have been 10 CLOVID-19 cases in Eunice, he said.
“How do we know those numbers are correct?” he asked in citing a need for a better snapshot of current positive cases.
Stat Sen. Heather Cloud, R-Turkey Creek, also questioned the reported cases.
“I think that is critical in moving forward that we make sure we are looking at accurate data,” she said.
Van Reed, St.Landry Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness director, said, ‘We get a list of all confirmed cases for the parish. There are duplicates on that list.”
Reed said the numbers released by the state Department of Health do not offer a snapshot of current cases, but report all the cases to date.
St. Landry Parish Government is talking with business leaders about reopening, he said. The first to start would be health care, he said.
Ashley LeBlanc, Acadia Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness director, said she also has been working with the state health department about the accuracy of the CLOVID-19 case count.
The parish is seeking guidance on how to loosen restrictions “so our community can start to thrive again.”
Liz Hill, Evangeline Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness director, said there is concern about opening and making certain health care providers are ready if second wave of infections occurs.
“The first time around the health care providers were hit pretty hard as far as PPE (personal protection equipment) and things like that,” she said.
Hill said the area parishes should try to coordinate reopening businesses.
Chance Henry, Acadia Parish Police Jury president, said the guidance on reopening is sought to keep from having a spike in the virus.
“We want some guidance on how to move forward,” he said