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Governor Edwards, doctors implore residents to change behavior for Thanksgiving

Edwards said that celebrations around Halloween likely hiked the number of cases and he said he fears that Thanksgiving could be a similar problem.

BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards and a couple of doctors implored Louisiana residents to celebrate Thanksgiving in a different way this year as the state is dealing with a COVID outbreak that, while still less than the nation's as a whole, is trending in the wrong direction.

"Make no mistake, Louisiana is in the third surge of this pandemic," he said at an afternoon press conference. "This surge is clearly worse than the first two - nationwide."

Edwards said that celebrations around Halloween likely hiked the number of cases and he said he fears that Thanksgiving could be a similar problem.

"If you're planning on a Thanksgiving that looks like previous Thanksgivings where you bring family and friends around a common dinner table, you're making a mistake," he said. 

Edwards said he loves large holiday celebrations, but they aren't safe right now.

"We ought to love our loved ones enough to not want to expose them to the dangers of COVID," he said.

On Thursday, the Louisiana Department of Health reported an additional 2,052 new cases and 15 new deaths from the virus in the latest 24 hours. 

The White House Coronavirus Task Force says Louisiana is experiencing a resurgence of COVID-19 and that current mitigation efforts are “inadequate.”

Edwards said that if you are starting to go backward on virus numbers that things are likely worse than it seems because the virus spreads exponentially and that results from worsening numbers likely don't show up for 1-2 weeks, meaning that the worst could be yet to come.

Edwards also took a shot at state Republicans who signed a petition to get rid of his emergency orders, saying that their failed attempt may have made people think that the crisis was getting better and was no longer a threat.

"Quite frankly, we need to do better. Leaders need to lead," he said. 

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Dr. Chris Thomas, a critical care physician with Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge relayed what things are like on the front lines of the pandemic, but also as a patient who had a tough battle with COVID himself.

"I am not ashamed to say I had fear upon my diagnosis," he said. Thomas said he suffered from muscle pain, high fever and shortness of breath. "I had seen critically ill patients who did not survive and I was given that same possibility."

Thomas said the stress on the health care workers has chased some from the profession and it isn't abating. 

"Since the beginning I've witnessed our health care workers perform heroic acts... Our nurses have done an unbelievable job, but they are tired. Our respiratory therapists have done a fantastic job, but they are tired. Unfortunately, I regret to tell you that the stress on the health care team on certain individuals has become too much and despite their career aspirations to take care of those that are sick, some have decided to leave the profession. I don't blame them."

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