During his press conference yesterday, Louisiana Governor Edwards announced that the indoor mask mandate for Louisiana will be extended for another month, at least until October 27. The mandate was put in place on August 4 of this year, with Edwards citing that only 37% of Louisiana residents had been vaccinated at the time and the rate of COVID-19 infection was increasing.

During his talk, Edwards noted that the state is now up to 45% vaccinated and the current hospitalizations are receding. He did mention that although the numbers are improving, they are still almost four times higher than they were before the newest Delta variant. He noted that over 1,400 people have died in Louisiana from COVID-19, and spoke to the fact that these deaths could have been preventable with the vaccine.

Dr. Joseph Kanter is the State Health Officer for the LA Department of Health and spoke during the press conference about the current state Louisiana is in related to COVID-19.

Our COVID-19 indicators continue to move in the right direction and that is critical, but we are still wading in COVID

Dr. Kanter also noted that all of the parishes in Louisiana are still at high risk for covid due to the low vaccination rate across the state. He agrees with the governor that extending the indoor mask mandate will keep everyone safe and protected as the vaccination rate continues to climb.

 

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