By Message staff
BATON ROUGE, La. (LBM) – With more Louisianans receiving COVID-19 vaccinations combined with continuing reductions in new cases, hospitalizations and deaths, Gov. John Bel Edwards announced Tuesday, Oct. 26, the end to the state’s mask mandate.
While the mask mandate will remain in place for k-12 schools, individual districts may opt out if they adhere to quarantine guidelines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Masks also will be mandated by federal regulation on mass transit and in health care facilities.
Local governments and private businesses may choose to continue to require and enforce mask requirements under the Edwards’ order, which goes into effect on Wednesday, Oct. 27.
“I stand here today optimistic, relieved, that the worst of the fourth surge is very clearly behind us now,” Edwards said during his news conference. “And I think this is the result of the work that the people of our state have done. They have stepped up to the plate when we needed them to and when we asked them to, at least most of them, put their masks back on, exercised caution. Vaccinated numbers continued to improve, although we can all agree that they are not what they should be even today. But because of those reasons we have overcome this fourth surge, this Delta surge.”
The Louisiana Department of Health reported 460 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, bringing the statewide total to 756,969, and an additional 16 coronavirus related deaths, raising the death toll to 14,496 since the pandemic began in March 2020.
COVID-19 hospitalizations also remained on a steady decline — down from a peak of more than 3,022 on Aug. 17 to 323 on Tuesday.
The LDH also reported that more than 2.1 million state residents now are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Click here to read the Governor’s executive order.
