In an updated notice to all of the state’s health care facilities, the Department of Health said it was “directing and requiring” hospitals to use their judgment in determining which medical procedures can be safely postponed for 30 days.
The gist: Gov. John Bel Edwards held his daily COVID-19 news conference to update the state on the viral situation we’re facing. Joined by Jeff Landry, Attorney General for Louisiana and a known political opponent of the governor, and Coach Orgeron of LSU Edwards laid out the ongoing plan for protection in the state.
The gist: Louisiana relaxed regulations to allow the state’s restaurants to offer carryout sales of beer and wine. The move is aimed to help cushion COVID-19’s economic blow to restaurants, amid enforced closure of dining rooms statewide.
The Cajundome will be a drive-thru SCREENING (not testing) site for coronavirus beginning at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Communications Director Jamie Angelle stressed at Tuesday’s press conference.
While the Lafayette Regional Airport is taking major cleaning precautions to account for the COVID-19 outbreak, flights are still going in and out of the airport as of Monday, according to the LFT website.
The gist: While no doubt disappointing, the news was widely expected. Health officials have heavily emphasized social distancing and authorities have placed attendance caps on gatherings to tamp down the threat of community spread. On Monday, the Gov. John Bel Edwards imposed a 50-person limit on public events for the next eight weeks, responding to updated guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control, the federal agency that sets the pace of nation’s response to the virus.
“We held strong as long as we could, hoping for a better turn of events, but when that CDC recommendation came down, we figured it was time,” Festival International Director Scott Feehan told The Advocate.
The Lafayette Parish School System will prepare and distribute a grab and go breakfast and lunch pick-up for students while schools are closed during due to the coronavirus outbreak. The drive-thru pick up will begin in Tuesday, March 17, from 9:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
In an effort to help fight community spread of the coronavirus, Gov. John Bel Edwards ordered the closure of all bars statewide and the closure of all dining rooms in restaurants until April 13. Restaurants can still serve takeout and drive-through (so please do what you can to support our local establishments), but these changes create major challenges to our area’s servers and bartenders.
The gist: Gov. John Bel Edwards tightened the state’s population controls in an update to his emergency proclamation, closing bars, casinos and movie theaters and limiting restaurants to drive thru and delivery service.
All sessions of the court from Monday to March 27 are canceled and will be rescheduled. All civil and criminal prescriptive periods remain unaffected at this time.
The gist: The Centers for Disease control now recommends cancelling or postponing public gatherings of 50 or more people for the next eight weeks. A governor’s order previously set the cap at 250 or more, based on earlier guidelines. Lockdown efforts are ramping up in coronavirus hotspots around the country.
The gist: Cases confirmed by the Louisiana state lab are no longer considered “presumptive” until validated by the Centers for Disease Control. CDC now considers Louisiana tests reliable.
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