User:Louie Hood/sandbox

September 2020
On September 6, Louisiana surpassed 5,000 deaths from COVID-19. Governor Edwards also announced that he will be moving the state into Phase 3 on September 11. Shortly after the Governor’s announcement, Mayor LaToya Cantrell of New Orleans announced that the city of New Orleans would remain in Phase 2 on September 10. This decision sparked outrage from business owners, sports leaders and more.

October 2020
On October 8, Governor Edwards announced that the state would be remaining in Phase Three until November 6.

November 2020
On November 7, a large Christian gathering in New Orleans featuring music artist and Louisiana-native Lauren Daigle sparked controversy. The event appeared to violate several of the city’s coronavirus guidelines. A spokesman for Mayor LaToya Cantrell released a statement saying “The images circulating depict what appear to be clear violations of public health guidelines. New Orleans has bent the curve and stopped the spread, twice, and this kind of irresponsible behavior is absolutely unacceptable.” On November 24, after an aggressive third surge of new cases and hospitalizations, Gov. Edwards announced that he would impose tighter mitigation measures and move the state back to Phase 2.

December 2020
On December 7, the Louisiana Department of Health adopted the CDC’s guidance that allows people who have been exposed to COVID-19 to reduce their quarantine period from 14 days to 10 days, or as few as 7 days with a negative test. On December 16, Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser tested positive for COVID-19. . And on December 17, Congressman Cedric Richmond, a Democrat from New Orleans tested positive for COVID-19. On December 22, Governor Edwards announced that he would be keeping the state in Phase 2 until January 13th citing that the state had reached the highest number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients since April 2020. On December 29, Congressman-elect Luke Letlow, a Republican from Start, Louisiana died as a result of complications from COVID-19. His death marked the first coronavirus death for either a sitting or incoming member of Congress. Letlow was 41 and had no reported underlying health conditions.

January 2021
On January 4, Louisianans age 70 and over, as well as additional healthcare workers were able to begin receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. Governor Edwards made the announcement the week prior stating that the state will be offering a limited number of doses at more than 100 pharmacies chosen across the state. On January 16, the Louisiana Department of Health confirmed the state’s first case of the COVID-19 variant, also known as SARS-CoV2 B.1.1.7 or the U.K. variant. This variant is shown to be more contagious meaning that it spreads more easily from person to person. On January 22, Governor Edwards announced the launch of “COVID Defense”, an app used to alert Louisianans if someone that they have been in close contact with has contracted COVID. On January 23, it was reported that a COVID-19 outbreak was linked to a January 15-16 wrestling event held at the Lamar Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales, Louisiana. The Louisiana Department of Health announced that they received 20 reports of staff, athletes, and attendees testing positive for the virus.

Government Response
On July 16, Governor Edwards announced a new $24 million Emergency Rental Assistance program (LERAP) aimed at assisting Louisiana renters experiencing financial hardship. On July 19, only three days after its announcement, the state temporarily suspended the Louisiana Emergency Rental Assistance Program due to an overwhelming response. On July 20, Mayor Cantrell of the City of New Orleans encouraged residents to access and utilize the more than $25 million available in Utility Bill Assistance. On July 23, the state surpassed 100,000 reported COVID-19 cases and the Governor signed an executive order extending Phase Two and the statewide mask mandate. As the number of COVID-19 cases continued to rise, so did the state’s unemployment rate. On July 28, Governor Edwards penned a letter to Louisiana’s congressional delegation citing serious concerns regarding the state’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund.

On August 18, Governor Edwards announced that he would be officially declaring an emergency as it relates to Louisiana’s November election. He also noted that the current Emergency Election Plan proposed by the Secretary of State was insufficient. On August 25, Governor Edwards announced that the state would be remaining in Phase 2, citing four key reasons: (1) allowing students to return to campuses; (2) evacuating residents impacted by Hurricane Laura; (3) little-to-no data surrounding testing as a result of hurricane impacts; (4) rising cases across the state.

On September 8, it was announced that the state had to begin the process to borrow money from the federal government to supplement the unemployment trust fund which reached very low levels. Ava Dejoie, Secretary of the Louisiana Workforce Commission stated “This is an unprecedented situation. We enjoyed one of the most robust trust [funds], one that was highly regarded as one of the best in the nation before COVID-19 and we were consistently ranked as one of the best in the nation, but we along with other states are now faced with unemployment the likes of which our country has never seen.” On September 11, after improvements in case counts and hospitalizations, Governor Edwards announced the state would be transitioning into Phase 3 and extending the statewide mask mandate. This measure opened the door for increased occupancy and capacity in businesses. On September 16, after weeks of litigation regarding the impending November election, Judge Shelly Dick of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana ruled that Louisiana’s Secretary of State must implement an emergency election plan to accommodate concerns surrounding the pandemic. On September 17, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued new guidance easing restrictions on nursing home visits. The next day, Governor Edwards announced that the state would move quickly to implement these changes, allowing indoor visitation to nursing homes located in parishes with no more than 10% test positivity and without any cases in the past 14 days.

In October, 65 Republican members of the Louisiana House of Representatives signed onto a petition that sought to overturn Governor Edwards’ public health emergency declaration and the statewide mask mandate. This set off a war between Governor Edwards and Attorney General Jeff Sessions over the constitutionality of the petition. As of November 2020, Judge William Morvant of the 19th JDC denied the request, citing that the petition was void since it “specifically targeted Edwards' previous iteration of the phase 3 order which ended Nov. 6.”

On December 14, healthcare workers at Ochsner were the first to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine. Governor Edwards said, “This is the beginning of the end. We’re not at the end yet. The vaccine by itself is not going to end this pandemic. We have to have vaccinations, and the process started today.”

As of January 15, more than 170,000 Louisianans have received at least one shot of the coronavirus vaccine. The rate of vaccination places Louisiana 17th out of 50 states, according to the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Impact on Economy
On August 19, it was reported that the total number of jobs in Louisiana dropped by 11% in the first half of 2020 due to COVID-19. This number is nearly double the number of jobs lost in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Starting in September, Louisiana’s seafood industry, which has been hard hit due to pandemic restrictions on restaurant capacity could apply for assistance through the CARES Act. As a part of the CARES Act, Governor Edwads announced that Louisiana would receive a $2.4 million federal grant to stimulate business recovery. The bulk of these funds will be used to support “COVID-19 recovery projects.” On November 17, Mayor Cantrell of New Orleans announced that parades will be prohibited at the Mardi Gras celebration in 2021 in order to limit the spread of the coronavirus. The celebration typically draws crowds from across the globe and generates nearly $1 billion to the economy. On December 20, it was announced that the number of Louisianans enrolled in the Medicaid program increased by over 200,000. This brought the total number of Louisiana residents enrolled in the program to 1.8 million.