EXTENDED TO MAY 15TH - Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards is extending his stay-at-home order through May 15. Edwards made his announcement Monday, saying some regions of the state haven’t shown enough progress in fighting the coronavirus outbreak to lessen widespread restrictions on businesses and public gatherings.
"Louisiana does not have consistent decreases in both new cases and new hospitalizations," Edwards explained. "And it's not just one or two regions, in fact one-third of our nine regions, Louisiana is still seeing increases in case-counts and one of those regions has actually plateaued rather than going down."
The regions the Governor was referring to include: Baton Rouge, Acadiana, Shreveport-Bossier, Monroe, Northshore, and Southeast Louisiana. Edwards also said he was following the federal guidelines set by the Trump Administration. But the Democratic governor says he's hopeful his constraints will begin to loosen on May 16 if virus cases continue their downward trajectory. At that point, churches and more retailers will be allowed to open statewide, including hair and nail salons and some restaurant dine-in services. But they'll all be limited to only 25% of their legal occupancy rates.
Caddo and Bossier parishes continue to see new reported COVID-19 cases, but no new deaths, according to the Louisiana Department of Health.
DeSoto Parish also reports an increase of local cases and one new death. Webster Parish totals remain unchanged from Sunday.
On Monday, Caddo Parish reported 1,470 cases and 93 deaths to the Louisiana Department of Health; Bossier Parish reported 274 cases and 13 deaths;
Statewide, 27,068 cases, 1,697 deaths and 47 probable deaths were reported. As of Sunday, April 26, approximately 17,303 patients are presumed to have recovered.
For more information CLICK Louisiana Department of Health / Coronavirus Information.
