Today, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards discussed his April 29, 2020 meeting with President Donald Trump.

Governor Edwards also touted his Washington, D.C. meeting with Dr. Anthony Fauci, Jared Kushner, and Vice President Mike Pence, as part as his efforts to bring relief to Louisiana amidst the COVID-19 crisis. 

“They were watching Louisiana much more closely than I thought several weeks ago,” when Louisiana was experiencing its peak coronavirus growth, Governor Edwards said of the White House figures. “They weren’t quite sure we were going to be successful in turning that around and flattening the curve, especially in New Orleans and Jefferson Parish,” he said. For some time, Louisiana was experiencing the fastest growth in coronavirus cases in the nation. 

Governor Edwards said “the single most important thing to come out” of the meeting with federal officials was their commitment to finance the state’s testing goals. This plan would involve testing 200,000 Louisiana residents, or 4.3 percent of the state’s population, each month. “The weekly allocations of those test kits should arrive in the first week of May,” the governor reported.

Governor Edwards reiterated his commitment to extending the stay-at-home order to May 15, which he signed today. While non-essential businesses may open before that date, they must limit their establishment to 10 people (including staff and patrons), wear masks if interacting with the public, and enforce social distancing of six feet.

“May 15 is going to come quickly,” Governor Edwards said, but in order to move to “phase one” of the state’s re-opening, there must be a downward trend of cases, hospitalizations, and symptoms.

The governor reported the following statistics for April 30, 2020:

• 341 new cases of coronavirus, totaling 28,001 cases statewide
• 60 new deaths, totaling 1,862 deaths statewide
• 1601 total hospitalizations from coronavirus
• 231 patients requiring ventilators

In terms of statewide trends, only hospitalizations and ventilator cases are improving thus far.

While numbers are flattening, Governor Edwards said, there are still areas in Louisiana where COVID-19 cases are worsening. The worst “hotspots” are in the following areas:

• Ouachita Parish (Monroe), which has seen an increase of 22 percent
• East Baton Rouge Parish (Baton Rouge), which has seen an increase of 14 percent
• Caddo Parish (Shreveport), which has seen an increase of 11 percent
• St. Tammany Parish (Slidell, Mandeville, Covington), which has seen an increase of 9.8 percent.

“We still have our work to do,” Governor Edwards said.

You can watch Governor Edwards’ 4/30/20 press release here.