Louisiana pushes back loosening coronavirus restrictions — again

Louisiana is again pushing back the date the state will loosen coronavirus restrictions as cases continue to surge. 

Governor John Bel Edwards (D) announced Tuesday that Louisiana will stay in phase two of the White House’s reopening guidelines until at least Aug. 28. The restrictions were initially set to expire in July until Edwards pushed the date to Aug. 7.

Edwards said that the positivity rate across the state is still higher than 10 percent, which is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s nonbinding benchmark for entering phase two of reopening. The governor noted that the White House’s weekly report showed Louisiana is in the red zone for both new cases and test positivity.

However, the governor also said there are signs of improvement in the state. 

“There is a bit of good news,” Edwards said. “The data shows that over the past several days we are beginning to move in the right direction. That gives me hope and encouragement … but I do want to caution everybody that it is still too early to say we have changed the trajectory in a way that’s going to be sustained.”

He said that the improvement came after he issued a statewide mask mandate and closed bars in the state. Those mandates have led to several lawsuits, according to The Advocate.

Louisiana has reported more than 124,000 coronavirus cases and 3,937 deaths since the start of the pandemic.