LAFAYETTE, La. — On Wednesday, May 6, Lafayette Consolidated Government provided updates on the ongoing COVID-19 public health emergency for the parish and region.
Lafayette Mayor-President Josh Guillory said that the parish continues to do well relative to the rest of the region and the state.
"Our ongoing efforts to social distance and to observe proper hygiene, and to take the governor’s stay at home order seriously have made a significant difference in preventing the rapid spread of contagion and spikes in mortality that have occurred in other places here in Louisiana, across our nation and around the world," Guillory said.
Guillory said that the parish is also doing well with respect to testing.
"With today’s results, we’ve almost reached the statewide milestone of 4% of testing our population," he said. "In the next day or two, we expect to top 10,000 COVID-19 tests administered to Lafayette Parish residents."
Guillory said that LCG's mobile testing efforts on the Northside of Lafayette are ensuring convenience and availability for the vulnerable population.
He added that this is a very important public health emergency objective for this parish.
Guillory said that he is continuing to work with local businesses and stakeholders on plans for a phased reopening of the city and parish once the Stay At Home Order by Gov. John Bel Edwards is lifted.
He said that he will continue to work with the governor's office and follow federal guidelines on the reopening process locally.
Guillory also reminded residents that the governor's office has published guidelines for how businesses can follow the updated state mandate at OpenSafely.LA.gov.
Guillory also said that while LCG is working to help get 90% of local businesses reopen under the Safe Shop Policy, he is concerned with the remaining 10% that include bars, hair salons and gyms.
He said that some of these businesses do not qualify for the Paycheck Protection Program and other financial programs like economic injury relief.
Guillory said that he expects to have an announcement in the next few weeks on how his administration plans to help these businesses.
LCG will mark National Prayer Day on Thursday, May 7, by livestreaming a special ceremony on the LCG Facebook page.
Guillory also said he joined Attorney General Jeff Landry in asking the governor to loosen restrictions on churches and places of worship to allow them to reopen under similar guidance and practices like the Safe Shop Policy.
On Wednesday, May 6, Lafayette Parish was reporting 477 cases of coronavirus and 21 deaths. This is 4 more cases than were reported on Wednesday, with 1 new death reported.
Across the state, 30,399 cases of coronavirus were reported with 2,094 deaths. The Louisiana Department of Health updated their number of "presumed recovered" patients on Monday, May 4. That number is at 20,316.
LDH updates their numbers each day at noon.
To see the latest numbers and a breakdown by parish, click here.
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