Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards extended his COVID-19 emergency powers in January until Feb. 16. At the same time, the state's average daily number of COVID-19 cases dropped by 42% last week.
So, with cases dropping will Edwards' emergency powers extend again? If they did, they would run through March 11 and mark more than two years since the first emergency powers were enacted.
The Governor has put in mandates for employees and people using state property and encouraged local municipalities to do the same, but he did not enforce any mask mandate over the last 50 days even though COVID-19 cases were rising throughout the state.
The question about the Louisiana governor's emergency powers happen as states around the country have begun to end their COVID emergencies. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds announced that her state will be the 25th to end COVID emergencies last week.
"We cannot continue to suspend duly enacted laws and treat COVID-19 as a public health emergency indefinitely," Gov. Reynolds said in a statement. "After two years, it’s no longer feasible or necessary. The flu and other infectious illnesses are part of our everyday lives, and coronavirus can be managed similarly."
Gov. Reynolds' powers are scheduled to end at the same time as Gov. Edwards' powers.
There were zero new cases of COVID-19 reported in Louisiana on Feb. 6 with a 7-day average of 4,606 new cases.
As of Feb. 6, only 59.7% of the state's population, or 2,776,602 people, have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose. While only 52.7%, or 2,420,058 people, have been fully vaccinated.
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