BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Gov. John Bel Edwards is renewing his current COVID-19 restrictions on businesses and activities, and he’s warning the holidays threaten to exacerbate Louisiana’s latest coronavirus surge.
The Democratic governor’s announcement Tuesday came as Louisiana reached its highest number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients since April.
Louisiana Governor toughened rules in late November
Edwards’ rules were toughened in late November. They were set to expire Wednesday, but Edwards is renewing them through Jan. 13. The start of vaccinations has offered hope about the pandemic’s end, but it remains months before widespread immunizations will be available.
About 22,000 hospital workers and EMS employees in Louisiana have received their first of two vaccinations so far. That’s according to the state health department.