While elective medical procedures will be allowed beginning March 27, Gov. John Bel Edwards said it’s still too early to make a call on the future of large gatherings.
Edwards said the days leading up to May 1 will determine what steps will be taken next. “I’m just not there yet,” he said.
The governor’s stay-at-home order expires April 30.
The state continues to evaluate the three-phase approach to reopening each state and the country. Edwards said doing it parish-by-parish is probably not workable.
Meanwhile, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the state rose by 331 on Tuesday, bringing the total number of cases in Louisiana to 24,854, according to the Louisiana Department of Health.
The state has recorded 1,405 coronavirus-related deaths since March 9, an increase of 77 since the last figures were released at noon on Monday.
In Acadia Parish, no change was recorded in either the number of confirmed cases nor the number of virus-related deaths.
Encouraging is the fact that the number of patients hospitalized statewide increased by only four, from 1,794 on Monday to 1,798 on Tuesday. The number of patients requiring ventilators decreased by 35, falling from 332 on Monday to 297 Tuesday.
As the state sees continued improvement in key metrics for the virus, officials are planning for a phased reopening of the state’s economy.
For the past week, Louisiana has been trending toward meeting thresholds that the White House recommends states should meet before they start “phase one” of a gradual reopening.
Edwards said that means Louisiana is seeing a downward trend in people reporting symptoms similar to COVID-19, confirmed cases and hospitalizations. That doesn’t mean each day must be better than the last, he added, only that the overall trajectory is in the right direction.
The Louisiana Department of Health will brief the governor this week on its own state-specific guidelines for reopening, said Alex Billioux, assistant secretary for the state’s Office of Public Health.
“What we have right now is a White House proposed plan,” Billioux said. “That doesn’t necessarily reflect all of the details that we’re proposing to the governor.”
State officials and health experts say Louisiana not only needs to experience a downward trajectory in cases and hospitalizations in order to reopen. The state is working to get a strong enough handle on the virus to be able to identify new cases and isolate not only the patient, but also those he or she came into contact with, a process known as contact tracing.
To do that, Billioux said the state needs 700 contact tracers on hand to track down those people. The state has only 70 as of Monday, he said.
Louisiana also needs the ability to test at minimum 140,000 people a month, Edwards said. Ideally, the state will be able to test around 200,000 a month, which would represent roughly doubling the state’s current capacity, according to Billioux.
It was not immediately clear when the state would be able to meet those levels of contact tracing and testing, though Billioux said officials were working to have them in place by May.
Area Parishes
April 21 / La. Dept. of Health
• Acadia - 114 cases, 7 deaths (same as Monday)
• Evangeline - 43 cases, 0 deaths (same as Monday)
• Iberia - 195 cases, 10 deaths (up from 194 cases, 9 deaths on Monday)
• Jeff Davis - 57 cases, 5 deaths (up from 55 cases, 5 deaths on Monday)
• Lafayette - 429 cases, 17 deaths (up from 423 cases, 17 deaths on Monday)
• St. Landry - 136 cases, 26 deaths (up from 136 cases, 20 deaths on Monday)
• St. Martin - 193 cases, 13 deaths (up from 193 cases, 12 deaths on Monday)
• St. Mary - 160 cases, 16 deaths (up from 156 cases, 12 deaths on Monday)
• Vermilion - 33 cases, 1 death (same as Monday)