LAFOURCHE PARISH, La. — Lafourche Parish has been placed under new restrictions limiting the number of people allowed in shops and forcing all non-essential businesses closed.
Parish officials announced the stricter guidelines Friday at a press conference.
"The Novel coronavirus...has impacted just about every part of our state and our parish, and has changed our way of life as we know it," said Lafourche Parish President Archie Chaisson. "We've seen our cases here in Lafourche Parish rise exponentially over the last 72 hours, and our region is the fastest-growing region in the state."
Gov. John Bel Edwards previously said Louisiana has the fastest coronavirus growth rate in the world. If that holds true, Chaisson's remark means Lafourche Parish has the fastest rate of coronavirus cases increasing in the world.
As of Friday, Lafourche Parish had 185 confirmed cases of coronavirus, in a parish that has just under 100,000 people.
Businesses ordered closed
Because of the large spike in cases, Chaisson ordered all non-essential businesses to close.
His order, which takes effect Sunday morning, is different from state restrictions and those in other cities because he did not ask employees not to report to work, but instructed owners to shutter their businesses.
Stores deemed essential will also face new restrictions, he said.
Grocery stores, pharmacies and any other business allowed to remain open will only be allowed to remain open between the hours of 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. and will not be allowed to have more than 50% of their maximum fire code occupancy inside.
He urged essential businesses such as auto repair shops, tire and auto part stores, and banks to consider changing to drive-thru or curbside service only if they haven't done so already.
Those businesses will be under the same occupancy and operating restrictions as grocery stores and pharmacies.
One shopper per family
Chaisson said shopping would also be restricted.
Only one person per family would be allowed to enter a store "for essential items only," he said.
"Our residents should also use common sense when visiting these businesses," he added. "Now is not the time to browse and spend time in the stores for the sake of getting out of your houses."
Even while announcing the rollout of new restrictions, Chaisson was frank about the fact that they would do damage to the parish's economy.
"While i understand these restrictions will have a huge impact on our small business community...we are in the middle of a communitywide health crisis and believe these restrictions are warranted," he said. "We are walking a fine line between the balance of keeping our community safe and (keeping) our economy up and running."
No curfew for now
Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre stood by his decision Friday to not enact a parishwide curfew despite the growing number of cases.
Over the past several days, cities and parishes across Louisiana have enacted various curfews to reduce the number of people on the street.
But Webre said Thursday and confirmed at the Friday press conference that no curfew was planned for Lafourche Parish. He said an analysis of calls for service and other measurements did not outline a correlation between the virus' spread and nighttime activities.
"We determined that there was no correlation between a curfew and the spread of coronavirus," he said. "A travel restriction that at this point does not enhance public safety from the standpoint of coronavirus, I don't think is necessary."
Webre said crime prevention would not be the reason for a curfew in the parish.
"Those are issues that are part of the normal, everyday law enforcement response," he said.
But both Webre and Chaisson cautioned that stricter measures, including the possibility of a curfew, were still on the table. Webre specifically mentioned that the analysis of nighttime activity would continue, and would influence his decision going forward.
"We are dealing with something that is unprecedented, that's dynamic and that's ever-changing. It changes by the minute, by the hour and by the day," Webre said.
Ed. Note: A previous version of this article incorrectly overstated the rate of cases per capita in Lafourche Parish, using the population for the parish seat, Thibodaux, instead of the parish's population. Any references to the incorrect number have been removed or amended.
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