During a press briefing Friday, Governor John Bel Edwards said he wanted to address the parents in the state who are sending their children back to school in the next few days and answer the question of why they should send those kids to class with masks on.
Related
“Why wouldn’t we? Edwards posited. “We know better than to continue to believe that kids can’t and don’t get sick from COVID-19.”
Listen to your favorite News/Talk station now on Audacy.
Edwards noted that 6,000 children have been diagnosed with COVID just this week alone. “We have more children sick with COVID-19 than we have at any other time in the pandemic,” he said.
The press conference was an answer of sorts to Louisiana’s Attorney General Jeff Landry, who said earlier Friday that Edwards’s power doesn’t extend to the ability to require that students mask up on campus.
Landry said that authority belongs to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Edwards didn’t mince words in clapping back.
"He's going out of his way to undermine public confidence in mitigation measures," Edwards said when asked about Landry's efforts to stop masking in schools. "It is sad. It's regrettable. It's also irresponsible and it is dangerous."
Related
Low vaccination rates have combined with the Delta variant to create a record-setting surge as COVID once again grips the Pelican State. Louisiana has broken hospitalization records for three consecutive days. Over 6,100 new cases were reported Friday along with 48 deaths and 71 new hospitalizations.
90% of those hospitalized with COVID are unvaccinated.
As for the school-aged children in question, Edwards said 13 are hospitalized due to COVID at Children’s Hospital in New Orleans. Of those 13, four are in the ICU and six are under the age of 2. Children under the age of 12 are unable at this time to receive any of the approved COVID vaccines.