Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards issues statewide mask mandate

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards on Saturday announced a statewide mask-wearing mandate in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19. (Screengrab)

By Mike Scott, mscott@stph.org

In a top-level effort to stem the resurgence of COVID-19 in Louisiana, Gov. John Bel Edwards on Saturday (July 11) issued a statewide mandate requiring the wearing of face coverings in public, closing bars to anything but curbside service and limiting indoor gatherings to 50 people.

Edwards’ order, which he said he would sign later Saturday, will go into effect at 12:01 a.m. Monday (July 13) and will last at least until July 24, when it will be re-evaluated, he said.

“We hope to avoid going backwards. We hope to avoid closing businesses again,” Edwards said during a news conference Saturday afternoon in which he announced the changes. “But what we cannot do is go back to a time where we’re running out of hospital beds and ventilators. We cannot risk losing our capacity to deliver life-saving care.”

Exempted from the newly announced mask mandate will be children under 8 years old, although Edwards recommended they wear masks as well. Others exempted from the order include:

• Anyone who has a medical condition that prevents the wearing of a face covering.
• Anyone who is consuming a drink or food.
• Anyone who is trying to communicate with a person who is hearing impaired.
• Anyone who is giving a speech for broadcast or to an audience.
• Anyone temporarily removing his or her face covering for identification purposes.

Additionally, parishes with fewer than 100 new cases per 100,000 residents can opt-out of the order. Currently, only three parishes meet that threshold, Edwards said: Grant, Red River and West Feliciana.

The mask-wearing mandate is in line with the recommendation of public health experts, including those at St. Tammany Health System.

“This is good news for the fight against COVID-19 in Louisiana,” Dr. Mike Hill, an infectious disease expert at STHS, said Saturday afternoon. “It’s no secret that public mask-wearing – along with good hand hygiene, cough etiquette and social distancing – is vital to slowing the spread of this novel coronavirus.”

After Louisiana initially emerged as a COVID-19 hotspot this past spring, statewide efforts – including a stay-at-home order that has since been lifted – appeared to have successfully tamped down the effects of the COVID pandemic in Louisiana to manageable levels.

In recent weeks, however, numbers have again begun climbing. In June, the state had the 10^th-highest per-capita COVID-positive testing rate in the country. But on Saturday, Edwards said, it had again risen to third-highest, behind only New York and New Jersey.

On Friday, the state logged its highest number of new cases to-date, with 2,642 people testing positive. On Saturday, another 2,167 more positive cases were added.

“It is true that we have been testing more people – and, by the way, that’s a good thing,” Edwards said. “A test doesn’t create a case. A test is going to tell you where you have cases.”

St. Tammany Parish has not been immune to the virus’ recent resurgence. On Friday, St. Tammany surpassed 3,000 total parishwide cases since March. As of Saturday, St. Tammany Health System was reporting 13 COVID-19 inpatients at its Covington hospital.

“I’ve been extremely patient the past few weeks ,” Edwards said. “But we’re going to have to move a little bit further than (current restrictions). We’re trying very, very hard not to revert to Phase 1 or Phase 2, because we’re trying to balance public health imperatives with the economy on the one hand, with the ability to open schools next month and a whole lot of other things going on.”