We find out Monday what happens in Louisiana after May 15th.
Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards will announce whether the state will begin phase one of reopening amid the coronavirus.
He said he and his team would spend the weekend reviewing the data to see if Louisiana meets the criteria in the White House Reopening America guidelines.
Friday he indicated that the state has made a lot of progress, more than he expected.
"We are in a much better place, quite frankly, today than I thought would have been possible a month ago."
Edwards thanked the people of the state for working hard to make that happen.
"I appreciate everyone and all of the patience, and all off the work to help us to be as successful as we have been so far."
The governor, however, issued a word of caution and tempered the excitement about a possible reopening starting on May 16th.
Edwards noted, "By any reasonable, objective measure there is still a lot of COVID in Louisiana, there is still a lot of COVID. It is just something that people need to be cognizant of."
The Public Affairs Research Council said late last week that a review of COVID-19 stats from across the state showed that over the previous two weeks every region of the state was showing declining growth, except on the Northshore.
Edwards, meanwhile, outlined a plan for COVID-19 testing and tracking that would hire as many as 700 Louisianans to serve as contact tracers.
The governor said that was a critical part of reopening the state economy.
“As we fight to slow the spread of COVID-19 in Louisiana, it is vitally important that we put Louisianans to work on solving the problem. Contact tracing is key part of our strategy for moving the state forward, as it will allow us to determine who has been exposed and is at the highest risk for becoming sick, get them tested and keep them isolated from others,” Gov. Edwards said. “We are also working with Louisiana Workforce Commission and other statewide partners helping to connect Louisianans with jobs. These 250 agents are just the beginning. We will continue to add additional team members and this system will allow us to build up to 700 agents in four weeks if needed, and will expand as needed.”
“Contact tracing is crucial but it alone will not get us past this pandemic,” said LDH Secretary Dr. Courtney Phillips. “No matter how many contact tracers we have, if individuals who are contacted by these contact tracers do not self-isolate then we will not succeed. We can get past this but only if we all do our part.”
The state says the first group of contact tracers, around 250 team members, will begin training this coming week.
Edwards says they will be ready to go by May 15th.
The governor stressed he would only move forward with phase one if the numbers all meet the criteria.
You can listen to the Governor at 2:30pm Monday on WWL 105.3fm, WWL 870am and WWL.com.
