Louisiana Reinstates, Indoor Mask Mandate, Amid Spike in COVID-19 Hospitalizations.<br />Louisiana Reinstates, Indoor Mask Mandate, Amid Spike in COVID-19 Hospitalizations.<br />On Monday, Louisiana reinstated its<br />statewide indoor mask mandate. .<br />The mandate will go into<br />effect on Wednesday.<br />Governor John Bel Edwards took to Twitter to speak<br />about the state’s decision to restore the mask rule.<br />According to Gov. Edwards, the state is experiencing<br />an alarming spike in COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations<br />due to the highly transmissible delta variant. .<br />The Delta variant is different than the original<br />strains of COVID. It is more than two times as<br />transmissible, and while vaccination reduces<br />one's chances of becoming infected with COVID,<br />fully vaccinated people infected with Delta<br />can transmit the virus to others. , Governor John Bel Edwards, via Twitter.<br />Speaking again during a news briefing, Gov. Edwards said<br />Louisiana’s current recommendations are “not strong enough.”.<br />It has become extremely clear that our<br />current recommendations on their own<br />are not strong enough to deal with<br />Louisiana’s fourth surge of COVID. , Governor John Bel Edwards, via Huffpost.<br />He went on to call Louisiana’s COVID-19<br />uptick the “worst one [they’ve] had.”.<br />This is bad. And it’s not this bad anywhere<br />else in the country today … In fact, nobody<br />should be laboring under the misapprehension<br />that this just another surge. This is the<br />worst one we’ve had, Governor John Bel Edwards, via Huffpost.<br />Louisiana currently has one of the lowest vaccination rates in<br />the United States, with only 43 percent of residents having<br />received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. .<br />Louisiana currently has one of the lowest vaccination rates in<br />the United States, with only 43 percent of residents having<br />received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. .<br />Only 37 percent of residents are fully vaccinated. .<br />The state’s largest hospital, Our Lady of<br />the Lake, currently has “no beds left.” .<br />There are no beds left. These are the darkest days of this pandemic. We are no longer giving adequate care to these patients, Dr. Catherine O’Neal, Chief Medical Officer<br />of Our Lady of the Lake, via Twitter
