Edwards extends mask mandate another 28 days

Louisiana will remain under an indoor mask mandate for at least another 28 days, despite having made some progress in its fight against the fourth surge of COVID-19.

Gov. John Bel Edwards on Tuesday said he signed an executive order extending the mandate because COVID-19 remains rampant in the state. The mandate requires all people ages 5 and above — both vaccinated and unvaccinated — to wear face masks while indoors.

“There is some good news on the COVID front, and that is we are seeing some improvement in our positivity and hospitalizations,” Edwards said during a press conference live streamed from Baton Rouge. “The bad news is that there still is a very high percentage of COVID in all 64 parishes.”

Edwards said the state’s COVID baseline is still four times higher than it was going into the fourth surge in July.

In Lincoln Parish, confirmed cases of the respiratory illness continue to increase. The parish added 17 cases from Monday to Tuesday, according to the Louisiana Department of Health.

All totaled, the parish has recorded 4,498 COVID cases since the pandemic began in March of 2020.

Meanwhile Ruston’s Northern Louisiana Medical Center is seeing a drop in the num ber of hospitalized COVID patients. As of Tuesday, only four patients were hospitalized with COVID, Kathy Hall, NLMC’s chief executive officer, said

She said the hospital admitted 100 COVID patients between July 15 and Sept. 27, 84 of which were unvaccinated.

That tracks the statewide trend. According to LDH, unvaccinated individuals account for 86% of new COVID cases and 85% of current hospitalizations.

The vaccination rate in Lincoln Parish is now about 34% and 45% statewide. Both numbers have increased since Edwards re-imposed an indoor mask mandate on Aug. 2.

Dr. Joe Kanter, Louisiana’s top health official, credited the indoor mask mandate, which also includes K-12 schools and higher education, with helping keep students safe and schools open.

“The data is pretty clear that masking al lows activities like inperson education to happen and happen safely,” Kanter said.

Officials said a disproportionate number of transmissions now appear to be driven by those age 5 to 17 – most of whom are in school. They said that was another reason to keep the mask mandate in place.

Though the mandate was originally scheduled to expire Sept. 1, Edwards extended it initially until today in the wake of Hurricane Ida.