Gov. John Bel Edwards said Friday he is confident Louisiana citizens will handle the reopening of the state’s economy with good sense.
His comments came as restaurants, businesses and barber shops began taking advantage of relaxed rules after almost two months of restrictions triggered by the coronavirus emergency.
The state reported 348 new cases of the virus Friday, bringing the total to 33,837.
Another 31 residents died from COVID-19 – the illness caused by the virus – and fatalities total 2,382.
Acadia Parish witnessed its largest increase in the number of confirmed cases on Friday when 30 new cases were reported, bringing the total of COVID-19 cases in the parish to 189.
On Saturday, the number of cases increased by three to 192. Virus-related deaths in the parish have remained steady at 11 since May 7.
On Saturday, the Louisiana Department of Health reported 34,117 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state. This includes 280 additional cases since Friday.
A total of 2,413 people have died of the disease in Louisiana. This includes 31 more deaths than were reported Friday.
The LDH also reported that 1,028 people are hospitalized and that 123 require ventilators. Both reported numbers have decreased since Friday.
On Friday, Edwards said “I hope and pray” that no future order is needed for tougher restrictions because of a dangerous spike in cases.
The governor noted that any such setback would damage the state’s already reeling economy, including record unemployment claims, plummeting oil prices and a nearly $1 billion hole in state revenue estimates.
BATON ROUGE