Gov. Edwards attributes spike to two labs that have just started to report their results to the state
Gov. John Bel Edwards is in Washington, D.C., meeting with President Donald Trump to discuss Louisiana’s ongoing response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Gov. Edwards is one of a handful of governors invited to meet one-on-one with Trump.
Today (May 1), Louisiana reported 28,711 cases of COVID-19 and just over 1,927 deaths.
“That’s a larger increase than we have reported in a number of days, and it’s somewhat startling,” Gov. Edwards said, adding that the case spike is in part the result of two commercials labs that just started reporting their data to the state withing the last 24 hours. Of the 710 new cases, 381 came from those two labs.
Assistant Health Secretary Dr. Alexander Billioux added that some of those test results from the two labs date back to March. As more commercial labs come on line with reporting their data to the state, the upticks in cases being reported each day can be expected, he said.
The Governor also noted that the total deaths at 1927 (65 more than the previous day) in Louisiana are nearing the 2,000 mark.
“It strikes me that we are getting close to the 2,000 mark,” he said. “Obviously we grieve for every single one.”
Gov. Edwards stressed the need for Louisianans to wear masks in public. especially as some restrictions have been loosened. Customers can dine at restaurants, except those in New Orleans, that have outdoor sitting, but without table service. Customers can pickup ordered items from retailers in malls and shopping centers with outdoor access to the public.
Earlier this week, Gov. Edwards extended the state’s stay-at-home order until May 15. And despite the progress that has been made in some areas of the state, others are seeing increases and plateaus in case count and hospitalizations.
“The bottom line is we still have more work to do to continue to slow the spread,” Gov. Edwards said.
