Bars in Shreveport Can Open to 50% Capacity Per New Rules
It seems like the moment we've all be waiting for is finally (almost) here. The long awaited end of the COVID-19 pandemic seems nearly in reach. Hospitalizations are at the lowest point we've seen since March of last year (when this whole mess really started to get out of hand), vaccinations are up and available to more people than ever, end even festivals like Mudbug Madness are talking about actually planning large-scale events this year!
If you thought all of that was good news, you're gonna love the latest. According to the ArkLaTex Homepage, 3 more North West Louisiana parishes have met the criteria to move to the next level of re-opening - and one of them is Caddo!
The new set of pandemic rules laid down by Governor John Bel Edwards state that bars in our state can open to no more than" 25% of their occupancy limit, with a maximum of 250 people." That limit changes, however, when the bar is located in a parish that has seen testing positivity rates of less 5% for two weeks - that changes to a 50%. Caddo (dropped from 4.60 to 2.70% positivity in the last week), Natchitoches (2.90 to 1.90%), and Red River (2.20 to 1.30%) have just met that mark, reportedly all they need is the authorization of local parish leaders.
The news gets even better - De Soto, Webster, Bienville, Sabine, and Bossier parishes could be in the same position next week as all 5 have had positivity rates of less than 5% for just over a week.