Edwards Contemplates Changes in Louisiana Mask Mandate

Based on the information that is being reported by Louisiana's Department of Health, the Bayou State has apparently weathered the worst of the most recent surge in COVID-19 cases. The decrease in case counts, deaths, and hospitalizations have prompted many to ask Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards if he has plans on changing any of the state's protocols and policies regarding the pandemic.

Yesterday on his monthly radio show, Ask the Governor, Edwards told listeners of that program he expects to announce an update to the state's current COVID policy by sometime early next week. The Governor suggested that his decision on changes to the policies and protocols would come on Tuesday or Wednesday.

If you recall just a couple of months ago, Louisiana's daily new COVID case counts were in the thousands. In fact, back in August case count increases of more than three thousand per day were commonplace. Those case count numbers have subsided dramatically. In fact, yesterday's COVID update from the Department of Health noted that there were only 502 new cases reported in the state.

While case counts will certainly figure into the Governor's decision-making process regarding any changes in mask mandates or other protocols there are other factors that might actually carry a little more weight. among the factors the Governor and his COVID response team will look into are hospitalizations and positivity rates in the state.

The good news is that both of those factors are showing decreases as well. Back in August Louisiana was reporting in excess of three thousand individuals hospitalized because of COVID. That number has now dropped to three hundred and eighty. As you can see, hospitalizations have dropped dramatically over the past three months.

The positivity rate during the height of the Delta Variant surge was in excess of 16%. That number has now dropped to below 3%. Which is even better news for those who are hoping to see COVID restrictions completely ended in the state.

Governor Edwards said he and his team would be reviewing the latest information gathered from around the state by the Louisiana Department of Health over the next few days. It is his current intention to make a decision regarding COVID protocols and policy, including the state's face mask mandate early next week.