05152020 COVID-19 PC



GOVERNOR JON BEL EDWARDS: Light crowd today. Good afternoon, everybody, and I hope you're having a Good Friday. Obviously today is a big day for the state of Louisiana, as the stayhome order has been lifted and we move into Phase I. I'm actually confident that we can do this in a responsible way that adequately balances the competing interests of public health on the one hand and reengaging more of our economy and getting businesses open and people back to work and patrons back in stores and so forth. I think we can do this and keep cases down and manageable, if people will do what we've asked them to do. But it is incumbent upon I think all of the people of Louisiana to understand, as we've said all along, that they have a role to play and to please follow the guidance that we've put in place. This is one of those places where even though I'm confident, we're going to watch it very, very carefully. Because, as I've said? and anyone who's been in the military will understand this? you never want to night for, bleed, and die for the same terrain twice. And so we don't want to go back to having the kind of case counts and case growth that we had just several weeks ago. Obviously we want to save lives. We want to move forward and not backwards. And one of the worst things that can happen for the economy, by the way is, if we have to slow down, put on the brakes, or potentially go backwards by putting more restrictions in in order to address spikes in cases. So we're looking for business owners to be responsible, to follow the guidance. We're looking for individual members of the public to do the same thing. Today we are reporting 348 new cases across the state of Louisiana. That brings us to a total of 33,837, as you can see from the video monitor. We have 5,601 new tests that we're reporting today. Unfortunately, we are also reporting 31 new deaths across the state from COVID19, complications related to COVID19. And the total number of deaths now is 2,382. The good news today is that we have 102 less patients in the hospital who have been diagnosed with COVID19. We're down to 1,091 patients. And we have eight less patients on ventilators. We have a total of 132. As of today, we've completed more than 253,000 tests in the aggregate since the beginning of this public health emergency. While we're on the subject of testing, I really do want to recognize our state public health lab. They've been doing exceptional work throughout. And in the middle of responding to this pandemic and working around the clock to increase testing and testing capacity and to run the tests that they have to run and so forth, the lab also underwent its national accreditation inspection. It's the single most important standard for laboratories around the country. And in addition to passing on the first visit with zero findings, the inspector noted that he has conducted approximately 400 assessments, and he has? and this is a quote? never seen a lab perform so well during the initial accreditation assessment. So I want to congratulate them and thank them for their great work and ask them to please keep it up. And we should all be thankful for these lab techs and professionals for everything that they are doing. I'm also happy to report that 298 contact tracers have completed their training this week. By tomorrow, we should have 290 in place and working on contact tracing. Obviously we're still seeing COVID19?cases in communities across the state of Louisiana, and so any one of us can receive a call from a contact tracer. It's important that if you do receive such a call that you participate. The call will come from the following phone number: 8777662130. 8777662130. That the the department of health's contracted companies that's running these contact tracing operations. They will be the ones on that number. So please answer them. And you should know that contact tracing is not a new process developed for COVID19. It's been in place for many decades. And, in fact, it's been used here in Louisiana on a number of occasions. It was used with respect to smallpox, to suppress deadly diseases like tuberculosis and hepatitis A. The identity of the persons testing positive is never revealed. I was asked this yesterday on I guess it was a town hotline meeting online advocate editor and the editor of the Times Picayune whether a contact tracer would tell the person they're calling who it was that had come into contact with them that had tested positive. The answer to that is no. All information given to contact tracers is treated with the same level of confidentiality and security as you would expect and receive at a doctor's office or a hospital. I also have a little more good news to report today, and that is that the USDA food and nutrition service has approved our application for the PBET program. That stands for the pandemic electronic benefits transfer program. It provides benefits for students who receive free or reduced priced school meals. So parents will be able to apply beginning on Monday? that's this coming Monday, May the 18th, on the Louisiana Department of Education website, . This benefit amounts to $285 per child, which is $5.70 per day, that the schools have been closed. And I think it's 50?days, and that's how you come up with that, from March?16th to May the 22nd, which is the last day school was scheduled. It makes up for the cost of breakfast and lunch that they would have received had they been at school. And obviously the parents can then use that funding and make sure that these children do have access to nutrition. More than 600,000 students are potentially eligible. Grades preK through 12. Once the department of education confirm eligibility, the department of children and family services will issue the card. Shifting gears for a moment, I want to make sure that everyone is aware of the potential for severe weather this weekend, and, in fact, across southeast Louisiana last night we experienced severe weather. And I've spoken to three parish Presidents, those being the parishes of St. Tammany, St. Charles, and Tangipahoa, all of whom told me they received extraordinary amounts of rainfall, somewhere in the neighborhood of 13, 14, 15inch of rain over about 7?hours yesterday that caused a significant amount of flooding. And that's still being assessed. And the folks at GOHSEP are working with those parishes. Unfortunately, the rain is going to continue, and we don't have optimal conditions for that area to drain into Lake Pontchartrain because the wind is blowing out of the south and southeast, and because of all the rain that is falling further north, the creek's tributaries are actually continuing to rise. So we obviously hope we don't get significant amounts of rain until the water that has already fallen and accumulated has an opportunity to drain out, but if more rain does come too soon in significant amounts, obviously that's going to exacerbate the flooding problem there. We also had one, I think, tornado reported. I don't have damage reports from that tornado. In fact, the parish President, Mike Cooper from St. Tammany, tells me that he's not sure it actually touched the ground. But we do want everyone to be aware that there is an elevated risk for severe weather this weekend. It could include flash flooding in many areas, especially those areas where the ground is already saturated and the floodwaters have not yet receded. The national weather service says to expect about 2inch of rain in some areas, but I'm not sure they predicted the 13, 14, or 15?inches of rain that actually fell yesterday. So we should all be aware. Wind gusts up to 60?miles per hour are also possible, and obviously there is some limited potential for tornados. So please stay weather aware. Keep your phones and devices charged and on. Download the free alert FM app. It's offered by the state. So that you can get emergency alerts. Monitor your local media, and listen for guidance from your local emergency officials. If you are driving and you come upon water standing in the road and you're not absolutely certain that it's shallow enough that you can safely proceed, don't proceed through the water. That is how we experience most of our fatalities in flooding. It's because of motorists. So we're asking people to be especially careful with respect to that hazard. You can go to GOHSEP's for more information on preparedness for this event and other threats, and it's always a good idea to do this. We're just two weeks away from hurricane season. And I saw earlier today there's already a storm system out east of Florida that could potentially become a tropical storm, although at this point it looks like if it does, it's going to move north and then back out into the Atlantic. But it's obviously that time of year, so we're asking everybody to get a game plan. Finally, before I take questions, I want to congratulate all the graduates, high school graduates, college graduates, of 2020, many of whom are taking part in virtual graduation ceremonies today or over the coming days. And I know this is not how you all envisioned celebrating this particular milestone, and I apologize for that. You are going to have a story to tell your children and grandchildren about for a long time. But I want you to know that I and so many people are very, very proud of each and every one of you and your accomplishments. And, you know, I won't be delivering any commencement speeches this year, and I normally deliver several. And the one thing I want to tell, especially all the college graduates, is that the degree that you have just achieved empowers you to make a real difference in your family, in your community, in the state of Louisiana, a real difference in this world. And because it's empowered you to be able to do that, I think you're obligated to use it for that purpose. And so find ways big and small to contribute, to make a difference. And it has never been more important than it is right now. So know that Louisiana's proud of you, and that Louisiana has a very bright future because of each and every one of you. Now we'll get to a couple of questions. One, benny from Hayes, Louisiana, and he wants it to know that why is it casinos can open up Monday at 50?percent while everything else, including restaurants and bars, can only open up at 25?percent. First of all, bars cannot open period unless they have an LDH food permit, in which case they can open up to the same extent as a restaurant. With respect to casinos and gaming establishments, they are limited to 25?percent occupancy. They're also limited to no more than 50?percent of their gaming positions because that's how we make sure that within the establishments they are able to stay a safe distance and to social distance from one another, achieve that 6 foot separation. And so in that regard it's very consistent with all of the guidance that we're giving to restaurants and to bars with LDH permits: 25?percent of your occupancy, but then you have to make sure that within the establishments, you're able to achieve social distancing. So it's not just that you have 50?percent? a limit of 50?percent of your positions in the casinos or so forth, but no two gaming positions that are contiguous to one another can be open. So you're going to have a gaming position that's open and the one next to it will not be. And so we will achieve the social distancing. For that reason, the rules are very, very similar for each of those. The reason it's Monday the 18th for these gaming establishments is because we, in addition to the proclamation, are requiring them to submit a plan that is approved by the gaming control board, and they needed some time to receive, evaluate, and approve those plans and communicate that back to the establishments. And that's why the earliest that they will be able to open, should they receive that approved plan, will be Monday, May the 18th. Second question comes from New Iberia. Bill wants to know: During Phase I, will the DMVs open up? Yes, as a matter of fact they will. The offices of motor vehicles will start providing limited services at 11 locations across the state. Some of those activities and services include driver's license renewals, title transfers, and the issuance of identification cards. Those eleven locations are Alexandria, Baton Rouge, Livingston, Mandeville, Monroe, Harvey, Houma, Lafayette, Lake Charles, New Orleans, and Shreveport. Additional locations will come online and open over the coming days. Still, customers are encouraged to use OMV online services when possible. That's one way that you can stay home and get your business done and be as safe as possible. Visit for more information and details on the locations that will open on Monday. As you can see, as I normally do, I've got Dr.?Alex Billeaux here from the department of health, and he is here to answer any questions that you all may have. And I am open for questions at this time. Yes, sir?AUDIENCE MEMBER: You said you're confident that people are going to handle this in a responsible way. What leads you to that? Do you think people are just tired of the restrictions (inaudible). GOVERNOR JON BEL EDWARDS: Well, I think it's all of the above, but really the optimism is informed by the way Louisiana has responded since the public health emergency started and we've imposed restrictions over time that ended up with the stayhome order and now has given way to Phase I. And, you know, it's not lost on me. It should not be lost on the people in Louisiana. That we have made tremendous progress. Just think back to where we were six or seven weeks ago and we had the fastest rate of growth of cases anywhere in the country, and I think anywhere in the world, according to the data that we were seeing. And yet today here we are moving forward with a Phase I reopening. And so that happened because the people of Louisiana took the stayathome order seriously. They were responsible. They were safe. And we have greatly slowed the spread of the disease and the number of people in our hospital and so forth. Now, there is still a lot of COVID19 in Louisiana, and we still have people who are contracting the disease, some of whom have to be hospitalized. And unfortunately every single day we're reporting new deaths. Today, 31. But at the same time we know that we've made progress, and that's because people complied with the orders. And we expect that they will continue to do that, especially when you understand that business owners, I believe, have a significant economic interest in complying because they want their customers to feel safe. Otherwise, they're not going to get customers in the numbers that they need to maximize their opportunity and so forth. And so I just? I'm optimistic, but we're going to keep an eye on things through the testing, through the contact tracing, and I hope we don't have to put any more restrictions back in place or go backwards. Obviously, that would not be a good thing. But I'm optimistic that that won't happen. Yes, sir?AUDIENCE MEMBER: Governor, we've heard a lot about a possibility of a second wave of the virus coming in the fall. Does Louisiana anticipate that? And what does the planning look like in that event?GOVERNOR JON BEL EDWARDS: Well, I guess I'm going to let Dr.?Billeaux come up here. I can tell you that we are aware that it's a possibility. The degree to which people who are experts are certain that it's going to happen, it varies depending upon what expert that you speak to. You only have to look back to the flu epidemic of 1918 to know? and of course that was influenza; it wasn't a coronavirus. But there was a very significant outbreak and public health emergency in the spring, and then that fall, it came back and it was actually much worse. Now, there's some differences, obviously. As I've just mentioned, this is a coronavirus; it's not influenza. But secondly, we are not going to let our guard down. We expect testing will continue in a robust fashion all the way through the end of the year. We're going to be contact tracing. As you can imagine? or you really don't have to imagine. You hear people saying this all the time. We're not going to get fully back to normal until a vaccine has been developed, proven safe and effective, mass produced, and then? and then used to confer immunity upon a significant portion of our population. So between now and this fall, I'm not sure that that vaccine is going to be available. That would be an accelerated timeline. And I know the President made an announcement about that today, about what the goals are. So we are aware that this fall, that this could come back. And by the way I hate to even use that terminology, because we don't expect it to leave us between now and this fall. And so that may present an unrealistic expectation on the part of people who hear that. So we think the coronavirus is going to be with us hopefully at? not at the levels we're seeing today. And then whether it spikes back up in the fall, it remains to be seen. I will only tell you that we will be doing everything that we can to be prepared for it. Working with our healthcare providers, working with the public, working with businesses, the faith community, and then really focused on testing and contact tracing so that if it ever starts to resurge, whether it's tomorrow, next month, or six months from now, that we're going to know it as early as possible and that we won't have the situation that we had several weeks ago. Dr.?Billeaux, do you have anything to add to that?DR. ALEX BILLEAUX: So I think that the Governor covered a lot of the ground. You know, what I would add, we're talking about today being a day of a lot of milestones. One that occurs to me as you ask your question is if we go back to first or second week of coronavirus in the state, I think May?15th was about our original model said would be peak cases. And so it's hard to imagine being here now, talking about reopening parts of the? you know, restaurants and having people going back to some aspects of, you know, life outside of their homes if I put myself back in those shoes. There. And I just sort of emphasize that to say we're five months into the pandemic. It's hard to predict what October looks like. We just distributed thousands of vials of a drug that's shown some ability to shorten stay for patients who are in the hospital with coronavirus. And again that's five months in. So everything that the Governor said, I would definitely emphasize. It's just really hard to predict. But that's why we're watching the information so closely. That's why we're trying to communicate regularly with the public. And again the reason that we're in the position today is also the message that we should sort of send to the public about what we can do to anticipate the fall. The more that we wear masks, the more that we stay home when we're sick, we wash our hands, we adhere to the quarantines when we're asked to quarantine under contact tracing. Do all of those things. The more that our businesses, you know, reinforce that and make sure that they're abiding by the phase one guidelines and recommendations, the more likely that we have very few cases when we enter into the fall, and that's the best position to be in, where we're not already fighting fires before we're going into the winter. GOVERNOR JON BEL EDWARDS: Leo, before I get to your question, this is a related point, but one that I think bears mentioning. As we get back into the fall, we would expect, because we always have, another flu season as well. Well the thing that we're asking people to do to prevent the spread of COVID19 also prevent the spread of the flu. And when people get the flu and go to the hospital, they're occupying the same acute care beds, ICU beds, ventilators that are demanding the time and attention of the staff and so forth. And so if we do a really good job, we're not going to see nearly as many people go to the hospital with the flu, and that will help if, in fact, we have a resurgence of COVID19. And so that's another reason why these measures are so important. And, in fact, one of the things that Alex was able to share with me several weeks ago is that we actually were still in flu season when we started this public health emergency. And when people started to social distance and wash their hands and not shake hands and make contact, the number of cases of the flu literally within just a few days started to fall like we've never seen before. And so that's another reason for people to take these measures very seriously. Leo?AUDIENCE MEMBER: We're still Number?8 in cases. We're actually ahead of Illinois. In the information that comes in the next two or three weeks as we see how reopening will or will not cause a second wave. If you see those numbers begin to spike, what's going to be your plan?GOVERNOR JON BEL EDWARDS: Well, look, if we see the numbers begin to spike, it's going to depend on how big of a spike, how widespread it is, does the contact tracing trace it back to specific geographic areas, to specific types of establishments within that geographic area. All of that will inform what we do. And when you say cases per capita continue to be number eight, I'm not sure that if you subtracted out all the COVID19 confirmed cases because of testing, if you subtract that out of that number, those presumed recovered patients, that you would still have a number that would have us at Number?8 nationally. And so there's all sorts of ways to look at this. If you look at the active cases, I don't believe we are there, although I will tell you we have more COVID than I want to have as Governor. And I'm not trying to make light of the situation. And as I've always said, I recognize that some percentage of people out there with COVID are also going to be asymptomatic and probably not tested and don't know it and yet still be contagious. And that's what makes this particularly challenging. And I think Dr.?Redfield said the other day that they think that number may be 25?percent. So that's a really challenging situation. But we will be monitoring, because of the testing, the contact tracing. And if it's necessary. I hope and pray it won't be. If people do what we ask them to do, it's much more likely that it won't be necessary. But if it does become necessary, we'll take the appropriate measured response at that time. And right now I don't know what that looks like, so I can't be more specific. Yes, sir?AUDIENCE MEMBER: But right now people are expected to police themselves, owners and public places are going to police themselves to 25?percent (inaudible). GOVERNOR JON BEL EDWARDS: Well, yes, that's the limit that they have. And that is a lawful order that is in place, and so it is incumbent upon them always to follow the law. But in this case it will keep the businessowner, his employees or her employees safe, and their customers safe. And so, yeah, absolutely. Yes, sir?AUDIENCE MEMBER: Governor, we understand some sporting events, particularly like youth baseball tournaments r resuming this weekend and next weekend. The players are probably okay in a baseball game, but fans, coaches, spectators, are a little more difficult to social distance. Should we be playing sports at all right now? And how should fans and parents behave themselves?GOVERNOR JON BEL EDWARDS: Well, first of all, as is true I think generally speaking, outdoor sports are much more safer than indoor sports. Noncontact sports are much safer than contact sports. Baseball can be conducted safely, but the rules still apply. And so what we've been saying is if you're outside of your home and you're interacting with people who are not part of your immediate household, you need to be wearing a mask. You need not to be within 6 feet of any of those other individuals, and you need to engage in proper hygiene. That is true at a baseball game as well. And so what we're expecting to see is that in the bleachers there will be really good social distancing. And that the spectators will be able to bring lawn chairs and so forth and spread out and seat themselves, if they choose to be seated, down the right field foul line or the left field foul line or whatever. And, look, children are less susceptible to this disease, but they are not impervious to it. And so we don't want the children to have more contact than is necessary either. So for example I would encourage coaches not to have them all sit in the dug out at the same time. When they're in the field, obviously, playing defense, that's much easier. When they're at bat, they need to be in foul territory, behind the fence, whatever they can do to be safe. But all of those sorts of things that we've been saying apply in this context, and they're all possible with baseball and with softball. And so that's what we expect to see. And I will tell you that I think you're going to have a lot of families who will be relieved when their children are able to go out and to participate in baseball and in softball. But we obviously want them to do so safely. Yes, sir?AUDIENCE MEMBER: You mentioned that the hurricane season is upon us now, and it seems like I did read someplace. Do I understand that instead of if there is a hurricane that threatens Louisiana, instead of people refugeeing to centers, that the state would prefer for them to be put up in hotels individually. GOVERNOR JON BEL EDWARDS: Well, first of all, we are looking at all options. During the middle of a public health emergency such as the one we are having right now with a virus that is contagious, noncongregant sheltering is preferred; it isn't always going to be possible. So it will depend. If you go back just a few weeks when we had a Monroe tornado, for example, a couple of tornados in Ouchita Parish, that tornado destroyed the homes of a number of families. Those individuals were not placed into congregate shelters but were rather placed into hotels. Now, depending on the number of people that might need sheltering in a hurricane, that may or may not be necessary. And so I can tell you that we are actively working at our mass shelter facilities to make sure that we have the ability to, at least with respect to a certain segment of the shelter population, to sort of keep them isolated in rooms so that they are not making contact with others. And when I say rooms, I'm talking about temporary rooms, similar to what you're seeing at the convention center in New Orleans. And, in fact, as we move things out of the convention center in New Orleans, some of those tents, those rooms, will be prepositioned and set up in these shelter facilities. Others will be maintained in a warehouse so that we can move them where we need them to. And then we hope to have tremendous flexibility to meet the needs as they arise, either with congregate sheltering in the fashion that I just mentioned, or with noncongregate sheltering with respect to hotels. The other thing that we're working through and we're having exercises on this all the time because this is? at least as we start this hurricane season, it's very, very different than previous years, is we have plans where sister states agree to shelter certain numbers of people for us if that becomes necessary. Well, some of that won't be available because of this pandemic. And so we're working through all of that. The folks at GOHSEP, they have not had a day off since early March. And working really hard with all our parish OEPs to make sure that we have the best plan possible that is resourced appropriately and that we have the flexibility that we need to be able to respond however we need to respond to meet the needs of the people. I want to thank y'all for coming out again. I want to wish everyone a wonderful weekend. Please be safe out there and stay well. And as we go through this first weekend of Phase I, I know a lot of people are going to be excited. That includes me. But I'm asking people to make sure that they are responsible. Make sure that when you're out, whether you're indoors or out doors, if you're interacting with people, in close proximity to people who are not part of your household, please make sure you're wearing a mask. Make sure that you keep 6 feet between yourself and others. Those two things will do tremendous good in terms of stopping the spread of the virus. And then wash your hands frequently with soap and water. For those people who are vulnerable? and I know you've heard me say this 1,000 times, but it's that important? if you're 65 or older, if you have a chronic comorbid health condition, such as hypertension, diabetes, kidney disease, heart disease, obesity, understand you are more vulnerable and you need to take extra precautions. And if you have one of these more vulnerable individuals in your household, you too need to take extra precautions so that you don't inadvertently bring the virus back into that household where someone who is vulnerable might contract the disease. So if we will all do that, if we will all work together, be good neighbors for one another, be the resilient Louisianians that I know that we are, and if we not only work to make sure things are better but if we pray for that as well, I have no doubt we're going to get through this and we're going to be in better shape for it. So thank you. Again, we will not have a press conference at 2:30 on Monday. I hope to have one on Monday. We'll give you a different time, but I know that I have a video telephone conference scheduled with the White House at about the same time on Monday afternoon. So we will put out on advisory at some point over the weekend as to what time you can expect the press conference on Monday. Everybody have a great weekend. Thank you. ................
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