Gov. John Bel Edwards
Gov. John Bel Edwards plans to make an announcement on Monday, June 1, about whether or not the state will move into Phase Two of reopening the economy.
Phase One, which began after Edwards lifted the state’s stay-at-home order on May 15, is set to expire on Friday, June 5, if the order isn’t extended. Phase Two would open more businesses that have been closed amid the novel coronavirus pandemic and ease restrictions on ones already opened.
Edwards said he and his team will dig into the data starting Friday and over the weekend before making an announcement on Monday, four days before his current order expires.
“As we look at the data, we need to make sure we meet the gating criteria,” Edwards told reporters Friday. “We’ll look statewide and by region. I’ll get a recommendation and make a decision on that next week.”
In order to enter Phase Two of the White House’s reopening plan — which was vetted by the Center for Disease Control — a state must see downward trends in people reporting COVID-like symptoms to emergency rooms, new cases, and new hospitalizations over a two-week period.
In terms of cases, Edwards said he and his team will look at the number of active cases in Louisiana as well as the positivity rate based on testing numbers. Increases in testing capacity and contact tracing will also be taken into account.
“It’s very similar to what we had to do to enter Phase One,” Edwards said.
Louisiana’s situation has improved dramatically from where the state stood two months ago, when it had the second-most COVID-19 cases per capita in the country and the fastest growth rate of the new disease in the world.
This week, Louisiana dropped down to No. 9 in the country per-capita cases. The state also dipped below 800 hospitalizations on Wednesday for the first time since March 27 and below 100 COVID-19 patients on ventilators for the first time since March 24. Early models showed Louisiana running out of ventilators by the start of April.
Additionally, the percentage of positive tests are nearing the 10-percent benchmark health experts are calling for. Just under 11 percent of Louisiana’s 355,027 total tests have resulted in a confirmed case (38,802), though that number has been steadily going down over the last few weeks.
Though the Department of Health was unable to provide Friday’s numbers regarding COVID-19 case and test data due to network issues, Edwards said the state hasn’t reported more than a 10-percent rate of positivity in at least 20 days.
“We’re moving in the right direction but we have a ways to go,” Edwards said. “If we all work together effectively to slow the spread and expand testing, we’ll continue to see those positive rates continue to go down.”
The governor also expects the state to hit its goal of 200,000 tests for the month of May, saying that Louisiana was about 13,000 shy as of Thursday with three days left in the month. That would equal about 4.3 percent of the state’s population, which is more than twice the amount of tests recommended by the CDC.
Edwards said while reaching 200,000 tests has been the goal, it was equally important for health officials to test “in the right places.”
“We’ve not only ramped up testing but done so to reach all communities,” he said. “We have to feel confident that we know where the virus is and where the hotspots are.”
On Friday, Dr. Courtney Phillips of the Department of Health submitted the state’s testing plan “going forward” to Health and Human Services in Washington, D.C. The plan was submitted in order for the state to receive $190 million to help keep COVID-19 testing steady through the end of the year.
The multi-pronged plan has four goals: To increase baseline tests by 100,000 in May; to achieve monthly statewide testing at 4 percent per capita; to achieve 2 percent per capita testing in all parishes by the end of May; to achieve 10-percent rate of positivity for each region of the state and the entire state.
Under the testing strategy, there will be more resources directed toward vulnerable populations that include congregate settings like nursing homes and correctional facilities; communities with insufficient access to testing, such as African American communities and rural communities; and populations that require specialized approaches to testing, such as populations with special needs people.
“Increasing testing across the state is important as we ease restrictions and open up more of the economy and get more people out in public... because we want to do it safely,” Edwards said. “The testing capacity increase is an integral part of the White House’s phased reopening plan.”
