The Rundown: Election day, reopening the state and more news
Today in The Rundown: The latest Louisiana coronavirus numbers; where the discussions of “reopening” stand; the latest debate over Louisiana’s 2020 elections; how people feel about mitigation efforts; and more news.
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The Countdown…
Days until Louisiana Legislature is scheduled to return to session: TBD
Days until the Governor’s stay-at-home order is lifted: 13
Days until the Louisiana legislative session must end: 45
Days until the newly-scheduled Louisiana presidential primary: 86
Days until the presidential/senatorial/congressional election: 200
Days until the Louisiana runoff election (as needed): 232
Coronavirus in Louisiana
The Numbers…
Cases: 21,951
In Hospitals: 1,943 (On ventilation: 425)
Deaths: 1,103
Tests administered (state and privately reported): 121,928
Parishes with reported cases: 64
**Numbers reported as of noon April 14. For updated numbers see: The Louisiana Department of Health.
The News…
By the numbers: Louisiana’s deaths from coronavirus continue to tick up, but Gov. John Bel Edwards said he sees hope in decreases of the number of people who are currently hospitalized and on ventilators.
“Both of those numbers are down,” Edwards told reporters Wednesday. “Overall we believe we are moving in a much better direction.”
The state has ramped up testing and currently ranks No. 1 in the number of per-capita tests conducted.
“That really helps us to see what’s going on in the state of Louisiana to better prepare,” Edwards said.
Edwards said he’s engaged in discussions about how to best move forward as President Donald Trump encourages governors to reopen their states to offset the slumping economy.
Edwards and other governors anticipate getting more information from the White House today about factors that they should use to set up their own timelines. Trump has said he wants as much of the country “reopened” by May 1, though it will vary from state-to-state depending on the coronavirus outbreaks they’ve seen.
Trump has held several meetings this week with representatives from the health care sector and private industry (including people from the college athletics world as people question whether football will return this fall).
Expect more details later today from the White House and the governors. Already some ideas that have been thrown out include reduced seating at restaurants and other businesses, taking people’s temperatures before they are allowed certain services and other mitigation efforts.
Edwards said he’s had discussions with Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, a Republican, about plans to include the Mississippi Gulf Coast, where a lot of people also based in South Louisiana work or live, into Louisiana’s proposals since New Orleans is a designated hot spot.
Elections: A Louisiana state Senate panel thwarted a deal brokered by Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards and Republican Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin to loosen election rules this year to make up for the coronavirus outbreak.
The state of Wisconsin has faced backlashed amid images of long lines of uncomfortably close voters in the coronavirus times, after lawmakers rejected an attempt to put off the election as other states have done.
Louisiana has twice delayed its presidential preference primary, the latest for July 11, which would put Louisiana last in the presidential nomination rotation. The general election is presumptively between Democrat Joe Biden and Republican incumbent Donald Trump, as the only major candidates in the race, but Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent who sought the Democratic nomination, has announced plans to continue collecting delegates up to the Democratic National Convention — whatever for it may take — to try to influence the party’s platform and Trump has aggressively sought big primary wins even when he’s the only major candidate on a state’s ballot.
Ardoin, who won a special election after the ouster of his predecessor and former boss over sexual harassment allegations, is in his first official term as secretary of state. His proposal would have extended the early voting period, as well as excuses aloud to vote absentee.
The Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee voted 5-1 to reject Ardoin’s emergency election plan, which would have reverted to existing law after the coronavirus outbreak. (The vote breakdown: For-Price. Against-Foil, Hewitt, Milligan, Reese and Womack.)
Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, said he hopes the Legislature will reconsider after a House panel appeared to back the idea. “Nobody should have to choose between exercising their right to vote and potentially endangering themselves or others,” Edwards said.
A House panel agreed there’s an emergency but delayed action on the formal plan.
Social distancing: A new poll from Morning Consult has found that a majority — a large majority — of people don’t want to “reopen” the economy if that means a negative impact on health.
Trump and his allies have targeted May 1 (after earlier Easter targets) but more than 80 percent of the voters surveyed said people in the U.S. “should continue social distancing practices for as long as is needed to curb the spread of coronavirus, even if it means continued damage to the economy.”
Read the full results here via Morning Consult.
Governor’s schedule…
Gov. John Bel Edwards holds his daily media briefing at 11 a.m.
At 4 p.m. he’ll take part in a town hall that will be streamed on gov.louisiana.gov.
Tweet beat…
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