August 3, 2021 – Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards announced on Monday that the statewide mandate for internal masks would resume on Wednesday to address the recent surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations due to the highly contagious Delta variant to fight.
The mask requirement applies to people aged 5 and over in public places indoors, regardless of their vaccination status. It will remain in force until at least September 1st.
Edwards lifted the nationwide mask mandate in April. On Monday, he cited statistics showing that Louisiana has the highest number of new COVID-19 cases per capita in the nation.
“This is bad. And nowhere else in the country is it as bad today,” he said during a press conference with state hospital leaders, according to The Associated Press.
“It has become extremely clear that our current recommendations alone are not strong enough to handle the fourth surge in COVID in Louisiana,” he said. “In fact, no one should suffer the misconception that this is just another surge. It’s the worst we’ve ever had. “
The announcement came after the state’s largest hospital – Our Lady of the Lake Medical Center in Baton Rouge – ran out of beds and called in a medical disaster relief team to help with the increase in patient numbers. The number of COVID-19 hospital admissions rose from 36 to 155 patients in 2 weeks.
“There are no more beds,” said Catherine O’Neal, MD, the hospital’s chief medical officer, on Monday.
“These are the darkest days of this pandemic,” she said. “These patients are no longer adequately cared for by us.”
Edwards noted that things would worsen in the short term and that the state would likely report the highest number of COVID-19 hospital admissions to date during the pandemic on Tuesday. The number of patients is close to 2,000, which is 7 times the number of patients a month ago, the AP reported.
Edwards and O’Neal urged unvaccinated residents to have an injection to prevent serious illness, hospitalization and death. Louisiana has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country, the AP reported, which allowed the Delta variant to spread to unvaccinated residents. Approximately 43% of the state’s population has received at least one dose of vaccine, and 37% are fully vaccinated.
During his presentation, Edwards also encouraged people to follow other precautions, such as: B. avoiding crowded environments, getting tested after exposure to COVID-19, and working remotely if possible.
“We have the tools we need to slow the spread of COVID-19 in our communities and save lives, and I ask the unvaccinated Louisians to get a vaccination as soon as possible to protect themselves,” he said. “We can end this nightmare, but we must all work together to do that.”
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The Associated Press: “Louisiana Reinstates Inner Mask Mandate Amid Spike in COVID.”
Facebook: Governor John Bel Edwards, August 2, 2021.
News release, state of Louisiana, August 2, 2021.
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