Masks Back On

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards has reissued a statewide indoor mask mandate effective Wednesday and continuing until at least Sept 1.

Edwards’ order comes as newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 and hospitalizations continue to surge statewide. The order requires Louisianans age 5 and older to wear face coverings indoors when in public, including at school.

“We can’t send children back to schools unvaccinated and unmasked,” Edwards said.

Meantime the number of new COVID cases in Lincoln Parish jumped by 41 from Friday to Monday, for a total of 3,721 cases since the pandemic began in March 2020.

Both state and local medical professionals blame the current swell on the more contagious Delta variant.

“We are having a huge surge and young people,” Pam Sampognaro, Northern Louisiana Medical Center’s chief quality officer, said.

As of Monday, NLMC has 10 COVID patients, three of whom were on ventilators.

Sampognaro said the patients NLMC is seeing are both younger and sicker than were patients some months ago. Most of the new patients are unvaccinated, she said.

The Louisiana Department of Health on Monday also reported one additional local death attributed to COVID.

That brings the total parish death toll to 96; of that number, nine cases are now listed as likely to have been caused by the virus.

As to the reinstated mask mandate, Edwards did not rule out the possibility that the order would be extended if COVID continues to worsen. Louisiana continues to lead the country in the number of new COVID cases per capita.

“This is bad, and it’s not this bad anywhere else in the country today,” Edwards said during a Monday afternoon press conference. “The least we can do is put a mask on. It is not an onerous burden.”

Louisiana is in a worse predicament than it’s been in any of the previous surges, Edwards said.

The state’s COVID positivity rate is at 13% and is expected to go higher, according the Louisiana Department of Health.

“Our latest numbers confirm we simply have to do more,” Edwards said.

He said reinstating the mask mandate was not something he wanted to do but “public health and safety compelled this situation.”

On Monday, Louisiana recorded 11,109 new confirmed cases and 1,984 COVID patients hospitalized.

“We’re the worst in the country in terms of this COVID surge, and that is because of the Delta variant, which is a game changer,” Edwards said.

The governor said the outlook is bleak.

“There are no signs on the horizon that things are going to flatten in case growth and start coming down,” he said.

Edwards continued to urge Louisianans to get vaccinated. Only 37% of eligible Louisianans are fully vaccinated.

“It’s not get vaccinated or wear a mask, it’s both,” Edwards said.