Yesterday Gov. John Bel Edwards extended Louisiana’s Public Health Emergency order related to COVID-19, including a provision allowing all state government agencies to require mask wearing, given the fast-spreading Omicron variant, which is now the dominant strain in the United States and Louisiana according to the CDC.
State agencies in the Governor’s Cabinet will begin requiring masks of employees and visitors.
Edwards said while vaccines and booster doses are the strongest tools we have in the fight against COVID, public health experts also agree that masks are an important way to slow the spread of the Omicron variant now. This means you should be masking indoors around people who aren’t in your household.
Edwards added that now more than ever it is important that everyone get vaccinated or, if they are eligible, take a COVID booster. The vaccines are safe, effective and widely available all across Louisiana. Edwards said the most recent CDC data shows that unvaccinated people are ten times more likely to test positive for COVID and 20 times more likely to die from COVID than fully vaccinated people who also have gotten their booster shots.
