JBE ups stadium capacities; Lincoln fails to make the cut
While COVID-19 numbers are still being addressed by state officials, not everyone believes the threat is real. Pictured above is a sign on the side of West Barnett Springs Avenue in Ruston. As of noon Thursday, 1,630 Lincoln Parish residents have contracted COVID-19 while 48 parish residents have died from the virus. Leader photo by NATE NASWORTHY
Lincoln Parish does not qualify to increase the crowd size at high school outdoor stadiums, based on the new rules Gov. John Bel Edwards announced Thursday.
Edwards said beginning today, stadiums will be allowed to move from 25% capacity to 50% capacity if they are in parishes that have a COVID-19 positivity rate of 5% or below for the previous two weeks, based on numbers from the Louisiana Department of Health.
Lincoln Parish’s positivity rate is 5.6%, according to the latest LDH report.
That means Ruston High School — which is playing its games in Grambling State University’s Eddie G. Robinson Stadium — must hold at 4,900 fans. That number would be almost capacity, if RHS were playing at its own stadium.
For Cedar Creek, 25% capacity of its stadium is 413.
The governor said his decision to loosen that stadium rules came at the request of Republican legislative leaders. Edwards said 26 parishes qualify for the 50%.
The closest North Louisiana parish to make the cut is Winn Parish, with a 4.2% positivity rate.
Meanwhile, as of noon Thursday, LDH reported 1,630 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Lincoln Parish since the count began in March.
The numbers contin ue to show 48 of those patients have died; however, other sources confirm at least two additional COVID-19 deaths, including former local and NFL football standout Fred Dean.
The official local death count has been at 48 since Sept. 24.
So far this month, LDH has confirmed 257 new local cases of COVID-19. That’s significantly fewer than were diagnosed in September, but more than were recorded in August.
During his weekly press conference Thursday, Edwards said Louisiana has the lowest percentage of new coronavirus cases per capita of any Southern state.
He said Louisiana also has the lowest rate of positivity in new tests, according to the most recent report from White House Coronavirus Task Force.
That compares to July, when the state was first in the nation with COVID-19 cases.
Edwards continued to attribute the drop to the mask mandate and other mitigation measures. However, he warned the virus is still present and deadly.
“More and more spread seems to be happening in small gatherings in people’s homes,” Edwards said.
