New Orleans rejoined the rest of the state in Phase 2 of coronavirus pandemic restrictions at 6 a.m. today.
New Orleans health director Dr. Jennifer Avegno says all the important data are going in the right direction:
"Cases are falling, but they're still higher than we want them to be. Hospitalizations are slowly improving, both New Orleans and statewide," she said. "The rate of positive tests is under five percent for the first time since early December."
Dr. Jennifer Avegno says there's still a risk of large gatherings and people forgetting to wear masks and stay six feet apart from each other causing numbers to go back up. That's why while restaurants, churches, stores and other businesses can expand to 50 percent of their maximum occupancy, events will be limited to ten people if indoors, and 25 people when outside.
"We are nowhere near out of the woods," said Avegno.
