BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards is extending the state's mask mandate another four weeks, until at least October 27, he announced Tuesday.
Edwards said that while there is good news in the number of COVID hospitalizations going below 1,000 recently, for the first time since mid-July (from a high of 3,000), he said, "There's still a very high level of COVID in Louisiana."
Edwards said that all 64 parishes still have high levels of COVID and that the state's level of COVID is 2 1/2 times what the Centers for Disease Control consider normal.
"We're moving in the right direction, but our baseline numbers are far too high," he said.
Louisiana's mask mandate requires anyone aged five years or older to wear a mask when entering a business, school, church, or other inside location.
New cases and hospitalizations have significantly declined after reaching record-setting levels in August amid the virus' fourth surge through Louisiana. The highest number of hospitalizations was 3,022 patients set on Aug. 17.
The governor's office said that children younger than 18 years old still are the leading group with new COVID-19 cases.
Louisiana reported 1,031 new cases and 54 new deaths due to COVID-19 since Monday. In total, 13,850 people in Louisiana have died due to the virus since the pandemic began.
STATEWIDE MASK MANDATE
Face masks that properly cover the wearer’s mouth and nose should be worn indoors at all times, unless a person is in a home, under the Governor’s statewide mask mandate, which will be in place until at least October 27, 2021.
The order requires face coverings for everyone age 5 or older or enrolled in kindergarten, except for the following:
- 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
- Face coverings are highly encouraged for those ages 2 to 4 as tolerated.
As with the Governor’s previous mandate, children younger than kindergarten age are exempted if they cannot wear a mask. However, the CDC and the Louisiana Department of Health strongly encourage indoor mask wearing in public for all children aged two and older, especially as they are not yet eligible for the COVID vaccine.
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