The Rundown: Easter gatherings on hold as coronavirus outbreak continues but there are some positives signs...
Today in The Rundown: Gov. John Bel Edwards reminds people that his stay-at-home order doesn’t break for Easter weekend; the latest on the federal stockpile and what Louisiana received; a look at the latest numbers; and more.
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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: 20
Days until the Louisiana legislative session must end: 52
Days until the newly-scheduled Louisiana presidential primary: 71
Days until the presidential/senatorial/congressional election: 207
Days until the Louisiana runoff election (as needed): 239
Coronavirus in Louisiana
The Numbers…
Cases: 17,030
In Hospitals: 1,983 (On ventilation: 490)
Deaths: 652
Tests administered (state and privately reported): 81,406
Parishes with reported cases: 63 [NOTE: Tensas Parish is the only one without a confirmed case at this point, but there also have not been any confirmed tests there.]
**Numbers reported as of noon April 6. For updated numbers see: The Louisiana Department of Health.
The News…
Did you catch our weekend deep dive into the CARES Act, the coronavirus relief package? Catch up here: https://bit.ly/3aLtNWs
Holy Week: Gov. John Bel Edwards on Wednesday discouraged people from holding large Easter gatherings this weekend, putting aside a common tradition in Louisiana to continue to combat coronavirus.
“There was no Easter exemption from the stay-at-home order — there was no Easter exemption from the 10-person limit,” he said during his daily briefing. “The virus isn’t going to honor that. The virus is very much in control.”
Louisiana has started to see some positive signs in its coronavirus figures: Numbers reported Thursday showed a decrease in the number of people hospitalized and the people on ventilators.
Unemployment: Increased unemployment payments and new benefits for freelancers, self employed and gig economy workers will go into effect in Louisiana on Monday.
The federal CARES Act coronavirus relief package Congress fast-tracked includes a $600 a month boost to unemployment payments through the end of July. It also allows workers previously excluded because of the nature of their jobs to file for unemployment. More details from the Louisiana Workforce Commission.
Federal response: The Trump administration confirmed to the U.S. House Oversight and Reform Committee this week that the federal stockpile of emergency medical supplies has been depleted amid the coronavirus outbreak.
According to Democrat-led Oversight panel, Health and Human Services staff reported it has made its final shipments of personal protective equipment to states from the Strategic National Stockpile. Some 90% of the stockpile’s inventory of N95 respirators, surgical and face masks, face shields, gowns, and gloves have already been distributed. The remaining 10% of PPE will be reserved for federal workers and will not go to states.
“Now that the national stockpile has been depleted of critical equipment, it appears that the Administration is leaving states to fend for themselves, to scour the open market for these scarce supplies, and to compete with each other and federal agencies in a chaotic, free-for-all bidding war,” Oversight Committee Chairwoman Carolyn B. Maloney, D-New York, said in a statement, echoing previous concerns about a potentially critical shortage of ventilators.
Here’s the breakdown for Louisiana and the supplies it received:
HHS records show that the PPE shipments to the states went out in three waves but none were based on states’ requests. Two were based on 2010 Census data. A “final push” was more nebulous — states were put into several tiers that received a set allotment of each. Louisiana was placed into the highest tier, but Oversight noted that there were some disparities. For example, Vermont and Texas were placed into the same tier and received the same amount of supplies in the final push, but Texas’ population is more than 40 times that of Vermont’s.
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