RARE ILLNESS IN KIDS— Louisiana health officials say 13 children in the state have developed a rare inflammatory disease related to the new coronavirus, and one has died. Gov. John Bel Edwards gave an update Wednesday on Louisiana cases of what is now known as multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children.
"We don't yet know exactly what causes it but we know there is a relationship to the virus with these children that they've had it or have been in contact with someone who had Covid19, "Edwards said. "And it can be deadly but most children who are diagnosed with this condition do get better with appropriate medical care."
The Centers for Disease Control issued an advisory about the syndrome earlier this month. Symptoms include fever, abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting, rash, red or cracked lips, bumpy tongue, and swollen extremities. The number of cases reported in Louisiana so far is a small percentage of the 38,497 known COVID-19 cases in the state as of Wednesday . The total number of Covid-19 related deaths for Louisiana is 2,617 deaths reported and 28,700 presumed recovered.
As to when Louisiana will be moving into Phase 2 of the state reopening to more relaxed standards, Governor Edwards said he was encouraged by the declining Covid19 trajectory but wouldn’t offer a firm commitment of when Phase 2 would be happening. He did however stress the importance of people practicing public safety measures such as social distancing and wearing masks in public.
"The mask is a huge part of making sure we don't have a spike in cases again like we saw a couple of months ago," Edwards explained. "So I really am asking people to heed the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) guidance on this, the (Louisiana) Department of Health guidance on this."
Edwards also said that while Louisiana is gradually reopening, along with other states – precautions to prevent community spread of Covid-19 because the danger is not over. Edwards said he plans to analyze the latest data and make an announcement Monday or Tuesday on whether the state can enter Phase 2 on June 5th.
