Gov. John Bel Edwards announced that he will extend Phase 2 for two more weeks until Friday, Aug. 7 during a media briefing on Louisiana's response to COVID-19 on Tuesday.
The governor said that the state's 96,583 cases mean that 2.0776% of the population has been infected, bringing it up to second in the nation for per capita cases, just behind New York.
Edwards pointed out that Tuesday's number of deaths had increased by 36, marking the most deaths since May 28, and 1,527 are now hospitalized, which is largest its been since May 3.
Edwards said that 374,000 tests have been completed so far this month, which has exceed the state's monthly testing goal of 200,000.
The governor said that the state's surge testing sites will be open through end of July, or until they exhaust all tests made available by the federal government.
These testing sites are open to all citizens even if they are asymptomatic and there is no cost to the individual for tests.
Edwards said that community spread is still problem in the state and the positivity factor is still over 10% across the state.
The governor said that a third of daily positive tests are coming from those under the age of 29. He said that only 9-10% of positive cases are coming from congregant settings.
He said that as of July 15, all regions across the state have a 7-day average of greater than 10% positivity rate.
According to the governor, as of July 16, all regions are showing a downward trajectory in cases, but he said that represents a lag in test results over the last week. He said that as test results come in they expect the incidence rate to go up.
"We still have a lot of COVID-19 in Louisiana, more than we want and it is widespread across the state," Edwards said. "Now, it does not look like it is concentrated in a specific area."
As of July 21, the number of coronavirus cases reported in Louisiana increased by 1,691 and the number of deaths had increased by 36, according to the Louisiana Department of Health.
The total number of cases in the state is now at 96,583. A total of 3,498 people have died of the disease in Louisiana as of Tuesday.
LDH is reporting that 53,288 coronavirus patients are "presumed recovered" (updated weekly, last updated 7/14/20).
The LDH reports that 1,527 people are hospitalized (up 19 from Monday). Of those, 186 required ventilators (down 6 from Monday).
You can watch the first part of the governor's press briefing below.
You can watch the second part of the governor's briefing below.
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