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Two more weeks. Well, at least two more weeks. That's how much longer Louisiana citizens will remain in Phase 2 of the COVID-19 recovery effort. We actually entered Phase 2 on June 5 and most of us believed it would last about a month and then Louisiana would move into third and final phase of the recovery and be done with this disastrous chapter of our history.

Fast forward to today. Nearly three months later, and Governor Edwards is announcing that we've got at least two more weeks of Phase 2 to live through. That means we'll stay in Phase 2 until a minimum of September 11 and then Edwards says the administration will reassess the situation.  The Governor says Louisiana's high COVID case count and the potential for super spreading events due to Hurricane Laura were two major reasons for the extension.

In a report from the Louisiana Radio Network, we learn that the Governor has stated that most community testing is cancelled this week due to Laura, and the timing couldn’t have been worse.

Edwards adds, “Because it is two to three weeks since we resumed K-12 education, and this is when you would want to be looking really, really hard to see those first signs of whether we are going to have increased cases or increased positivity.”

The Governor goes on to say that with kids returning to K-12 schools and the beginning of classes on college campuses across the state, more than one million Louisiana citizens, including students and staff, have been reintroduced to the education process.

The original article from Louisiana Radio Network adds another vast concern of Governor Edwards:

Mass evacuations out of southwest Louisiana also have Edwards concerned. Hundreds of thousands are leaving for other parts of the state, and he notes the region has the highest positivity in Louisiana. Edwards is also worried about how search and rescue efforts could lead to super spreading events.

 

“I can only imagine that there will be hundreds if not thousands of more individuals who because they are going to have to be rescued we are going to have to put in shelters,” says Edwards.

The Governor says the next two week period includes Labor Day, and that past holidays have resulted in new surges in cases.

Read More: The 6 COVID-19 symptom clusters to look out for

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