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BATON ROUGE — Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards issued a statewide Stay at Home order that goes into effect at 5 p.m. Monday, March 23, to further fight the spread of COVID-19 in Louisiana, as the number of confirmed cases have topped 800 and spread to more than half of our parishes.

“In Louisiana we have taken aggressive measures to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and flatten the curve; however, this is not enough. As our number of cases continue to grow, I am directing all Louisianans to stay at home unless it is absolutely necessary for you to leave. I am implementing this measure to help prevent you from becoming infected or infecting someone else. People can leave their homes to do essential things like buying groceries or food, pick up medicine or go to work only if their job is essential. If you have to go out, make sure you practice social distancing measures and keep 6 feet between you and the people around you. People are encouraged to go outside and to stay active during this time, as long as they practice social distancing when they are around their neighbors,” Gov. Edwards said. “This order is not something I take lightly, but it is necessary to protect the health, safety and well-being of our people, our communities and our way of life.”

The order will expire at the end of the night on Sunday, April 12, unless re-evalulation determines that the order needs to be extended beyond that original deadline.

Other actions taken by the Governor include the moving of state elections; limiting of crowd size; closing of all K-12 public schools, casinos, bars, movie theatres, gyms and fitness centers as well as restricting restaurants to take-out, drive-through and delivery services.

The new Stay at Home order has limits on the following:

• ALL  places of public amusement, including but not limited to, locations with amusement rides, carnivals, amusement parks, water parks, trampoline parks, aquariums, zoos, museums, arcades, fairs, pool halls, children’s play centers, playgrounds, theme parks, any theaters, concert and music halls, adult entertainment venues, racetracks, and other similar businesses.

• All personal care and grooming businesses, including but not limited to, barber shops, beauty salons, nail salons, spas, massage parlors, tattoo parlors, and other similar businesses.

• All malls (except for stores in a mall that have a direct outdoor entrance/exit) that provide essential services/products as provided by the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) guidelines.

• Businesses closed to the public as listed in the order can conduct necessary activities such as payroll, cleaning services, maintenance or upkeep as necessary.

• Any business not covered by the guidance from the CISA discussed in Section 3 of the order and not ordered to temporarily close must reduce operations to continue with minimum contact with members of the public and essential employees, while requiring proper social distancing, adhering to the 10-person limitation on gathering size.

• Early learning centers and child care facilities adhering to the guidance issued by the Louisiana Department of Education and Office of Public Health may continue to operate.

Examples of Essential Worker Functions under the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) guidelines include:

• Healthcare workers and caregivers
• Mental health and Social Service workers
• Pharmacy employees
• Workers supporting groceries, pharmacies and other retail sales of food and beverage products
• Restaurant carryout and quick-serve food operations and food delivery employees
• Farm workers
• Electricity and Utility Industry Employees
• Critical Manufacturing Employees (medical supply chains, energy, transportation, food, chemicals)
• Petroleum, Natural and Propane Gas Workers
• Transportation and Logistics Workers
• Communications and Information Technology Employees
• Financial Services and Banking Industry Employees

Members of the public will still be allowed to go to grocery stores and pharmacies to pick up food, medicine and necessary supplies, go to their essential jobs and to go outside for exercise and fresh air. When leaving their home, people should practice social distancing.

 

• Click hereto read the Governor’s statewide Stay at Home order.
• Click hereto see graphics.

OTHER ORDERS FROM THE GOVERNOR:

Gov. Edwards has issued a number of orders designed to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in Louisiana and flatten the curve. They are:

• March 11: Original declaration of Public Health Emergency, restrictions
• March 13: Transportation, health care, administrative
• March 14: Restrictions on establishments, closures, legal deadlines
• March 19: Education, health care, administrative

In addition, Gov. Edwards issued a proclamation on March 13 moving Louisiana’s elections, which can be found here.

See CISA essential business guidelines here.