As of Wednesday, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards has reinstated the indoor mask mandate statewide in order to protect Louisiana citizens from the delta variant of the coronavirus which has brought a fourth wave surge of Covid-19 cases to the state. As children return to school, the mask mandate includes children in kindergarten through college students.
As hospital administrators and physicians have applauded the Governor’s mandate, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry has already made his displeasure known. He has taken issue with the Governor’s protective measures via the Attorney General’s Facebook page. Referring to the Governor as “John Bel,” he writes: “It is my job to protect the rights of Louisiana citizens. John Bel seems more intent on limiting those rights.”
Apparently, unaware that children have limited rights compared to adults, particularly in public education settings, Landry adds, “I have received numerous questions from mothers, and fathers, concerned about government mandates on their children. Our citizens have rights; parents have rights; and those rights are worth protecting.”
Landry continues, comparing Edwards to a dictator saying, “Louisiana is not governed by a dictatorship. The question is: ‘who gets to determine the healthcare choices for you and your child?’ In a free society, the answer is the citizen – not the state.”
If Landry believes Edwards is not allowed to require mask mandates, where should his focus be? According to the Attorney General, that focus is Joe Biden, “While the Governor attempts to put more restrictions on our citizens, he is turning a blind eye to Joe Biden sending illegal aliens by the busload into our state – non-citizens who reports have noted are carrying COVID-19 as they cross the border.”
There’s a lot to unpack here. Landry has claimed that not only vaccines but, in a prior post, that masks are a religious issue, writing, “Since news broke that I provided my Department of Justice employees information so they could express their religious and philosophical concerns regarding masks and vaccines, my office has been inundated with questions and requests.”
Landry makes no mention in his post about the surge in delta variant-related Covid cases in the state in what is being referred to as a, “pandemic of the unvaccinated.” Nor does he substantiate with any facts that busloads of Covid infected children are coming to Louisiana.
However, the facts are these: As previously reported, the state broke its Covid hospitalization rate today for the third straight day. Hospitals across the state, from Shreveport to Natchitoches to Baton Rouge to New Orleans, are facing staff shortages and have asked for federal assistance. According to the Louisiana Department of Health, the state currently has the highest number of patients hospitalized since the beginning of the pandemic. Requests for vaccinations in Louisiana have quadrupled in the past week.
For those still wondering, the coronavirus vaccines have been shown to be effective in preventing infections and reducing the symptoms of those who have contracted the delta variant in post-vaccination. Symptoms are generally mild and do not require hospitalization according to the Centers for Disease Control. Masks have been shown not only to be effective in preventing transmission of the coronavirus but may also have limited the manifestation of the seasonal flu.
