Louisiana Returns to Modified Phase 2 As Coronavirus Rises, Bars in Most Parishes Must Close Coronavirus

Faced with a surge in coronavirus cases and pre-Thanksgiving hospitalizations, Gov. John Bel Edwards said on Tuesday he would bring Louisiana back to a modified version of Phase 2, ordering the closure of many bars and most businesses in 50% occupancy until the end of the year.

Edwards said gatherings will be limited to 75 indoors and 150 outdoors. Restaurants, retailers and other businesses will decrease from 75% to 50% occupancy. Bars in parishes with a test positivity greater than 5% must be close to domestic consumption unless they have a conditional restaurant license, in which case they can operate at 50%. The order goes into effect Wednesday, ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday which health experts say will propel the spread of the virus to unprecedented levels as families and friends gather for in-person celebrations.

Edwards said in his press conference announcing the changes that Louisiana was “going through a difficult time.”

“Because of the trajectory we’ve been on … It is imperative that we act and we act now,” said Edwards.

The new restrictions effectively shut down bars that do not serve food in Baton Rouge and most other parishes, although the new order allows them to operate outside places of fewer than 50 people. Only a handful of parishes, including Orleans, Saint-Bernard, Plaquemines and a few other rural parishes, still have positivity rates low enough to keep bars open, according to data from the Department of Health. The parishes of Jefferson, Lafayette, Caddo and East Baton Rouge have a positivity greater than 5%.

Although the ordinance is in effect until the end of December, the governor has indicated that the restrictions will remain in place until the end of the year. They start on Wednesday.

“This is the first week in many weeks that Louisiana actually has more new cases than the national average,” Edwards said Tuesday afternoon.

Edwards exposes trends in worsening coronaviruses, which in Louisiana have become worse than the national average. “This is the first week in many weeks that Louisiana actually has more new cases than the national average.” #lalege #lagov

– Sam Karlin (@samkarlin) November 24, 2020

Edwards’ orders remain untouched at Tiger Stadium, where LSU continued to host thousands of fans – the school is allowed to host up to 25% capacity – at home football matches. And that doesn’t negate high school football as the teams head to the playoffs. Instead, high school football stadiums will be allowed to accommodate 25% of supporters in the stadiums. Some parishes had acquired the capacity to fill 50% of their stages.

He also left decisions about schools to local school districts. Churches will remain at 75%, as Edwards has avoided revisiting several of the pandemic’s most politically difficult issues.

These companies must adhere to a capacity of up to 50% with social distancing and mask mandates:

• Gyms and fitness centers
• Restaurants, cafes and cafes
• Casinos and video poker
• Non-essential retail

Edwards also encourages business owners to use remote working as much as possible.

After avoiding the unprecedented wave of cases and hospitalizations across the country for weeks, Louisiana has firmly entered the fall wave. New weekly cases have climbed north of 11,000 since Monday, up from around 4,000 a month ago.

Of most concern to state health officials is that hospitalizations have reached 1,000 for the first time since August 21. At the most recent peak, during a summer wave of infections that prompted the governor to impose statewide masks and shutter bars, hospitalizations reached 1,600. As of Tuesday, the number continued to rise. ‘increase, to 1,052.

The White House coronavirus task force has sent Louisiana increasingly disastrous reports of the outbreak. This week, the task force said “all states and parishes must flatten the curve” to maintain health capacity, and said “significant behavioral change” is needed to reduce it.

“Provide masks at all times in public, increase physical distance through a significant reduction in capacity in public and private indoor spaces, and ensure that every American understands the obvious risks of ANY interaction by family or friends outside their immediate home indoors without a mask, ”the report told me.

Louisiana hospital executives have warned that the level of infections is poised to overwhelm health facilities across the state. Last week, as Edwards and other officials pleaded with people not to hold large Thanksgiving gatherings, Dr Christopher Thomas, an intensive care doctor at Notre Dame du Lac, said nurses overworked with work and other health workers quit and the hospital did not have the ability to withstand another flare like the one seen in the summer.

“We have the beds,” Thomas said. “What we don’t have are enough nurses in every bed in every hospital in the state of Louisiana.”

Dr Susanne Straif-Bourgeois, professor of epidemiology at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, said, “Unfortunately, I think it might be a good idea” to put new restrictions in place.

But Straif-Bourgeois said the restrictions could see diminishing returns as a growing number of people suffer from “COVID fatigue” and organize rallies in their homes.

“There is this great fatigue from COVID-19 and I think it’s very difficult to come to people, there is a very high prevalence of the disease in Louisiana, so you are at a much higher risk of it. catch and infect someone else, ”she said. “People are tired.”

“People really don’t think about it anymore, I’m afraid. The holidays are approaching, Thanksgiving, Christmas, everyone wants to get together. “

Paul Salles, president of the Louisiana Hospital Association, wrote in a letter to news organizations that “even though we can create additional beds and reuse hospital floors, it becomes extremely difficult to find and train the caregivers needed to treat correctly patients when there is a spread of the virus in our communities. “

The restrictions come as Edwards, a Democrat, continues to face opposition from Republican officials in Louisiana. State House GOP members sent it a petition in late October ordering it to lift all Louisiana virus restrictions – which would have allowed bars, restaurants and other businesses to operate at 100% capacity without any mask requirement. A judge overturned the ruling as unconstitutional, giving Attorney General Jeff Landry a loss in court.

Republican Representative Larry Bagley called a House Health and Welfare Committee hearing on Monday to hear parents complain that their children are required to wear masks and have their sports seasons limited due to restrictions. Several wondered if the masks were useful. The US Centers for Disease Control and many health experts have repeatedly said that wearing fabric masks limits the spread of the virus.