Louisiana Reinstates Indoor Mask Mandate as Hospitals Fill

Aug. 3, 2021 -- Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards announced Monday that the statewide indoor disguise mandate would restart connected Wednesday to combat the caller surge successful COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations owed to the precise contagious Delta variant.

The disguise mandate volition use to ages 5 and older successful indoor nationalist locations, careless of vaccination status. It volition stay successful effect until astatine slightest Sept. 1.

Edwards lifted the statewide disguise mandate successful April. On Monday, helium pointed to statistic that amusement Louisiana has the highest fig of caller COVID-19 cases per capita successful the nation.

“This is bad. And it’s not this atrocious anyplace other successful the state today,” helium said during a quality briefing with authorities infirmary leaders, according to The Associated Press.

“It has go highly wide that our existent recommendations connected their ain are not beardown capable to woody with Louisiana’s 4th surge of COVID,” helium said. “In fact, cipher should beryllium laboring nether the misapprehension that this is conscionable different surge. This is the worst 1 we’ve had.”

The announcement came arsenic the state’s largest infirmary -- Our Lady of the Lake Medical Center successful Baton Rouge -- ran retired of beds and called successful a catastrophe aesculapian assistance squad to assistance with the surge successful patients. COVID-19 hospitalizations person jumped from 36 to 155 patients successful 2 weeks.

“There are nary beds left,” Catherine O’Neal, MD, the main aesculapian serviceman for the hospital, said connected Monday.

“These are the darkest days of this pandemic,” she said. “We are nary longer giving capable attraction to these patients.”

Edwards noted that circumstances would turn worse successful the abbreviated word and that the authorities would apt study the highest fig of COVID-19 hospitalizations truthful acold during the pandemic connected Tuesday. The fig of patients is adjacent to 2,000, which is 7 times the fig of patients a period ago, the AP reported.

Edwards and O’Neal urged unvaccinated residents to get a changeable to forestall terrible illness, hospitalization, and death. Louisiana has 1 of the lowest vaccination rates successful the country, the AP reported, which has allowed the Delta variant to dispersed among unvaccinated residents. About 43% of the authorities colonisation has received astatine slightest 1 vaccine dose, and 37% is afloat vaccinated.

During his presentation, Edwards besides encouraged radical to travel different precautions, specified arsenic avoiding crowded settings, getting tested aft COVID-19 exposure, and moving remotely erstwhile possible.

“We person the tools we request to dilatory the dispersed of COVID-19 successful our communities and prevention lives, and I americium pleading with unvaccinated Louisianans to get their changeable arsenic soon arsenic they tin to support themselves,” helium said. “We tin extremity this nightmare, but it is going to instrumentality each of america moving unneurotic to bash it.”