Health Care
Water outages force hospital evacuations in Southwest Louisiana
More than six dozen public water systems in Louisiana were knocked out of service when Hurricane Laura tore through the state Thursday, and the inability of those jurisdictions to provide clean water forced 10 hospitals to evacuate some or all of their patients, according to the Louisiana Department of Health. The health department said Thursday […]
Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome removes name from anti-abortion letter
East Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome asked that her name be removed from a letter sent by several Democrats to national party leaders Friday urging them to avoid making the right to an abortion a part of the party’s platform. The letter requests that the Democratic National Committee acknowledge that Americans have “differing views” […]
Edwards Urges Democratic Party To Soften Abortion Stance
Update: East Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome has had her name removed from the letter to the Democratic National Committee asking her political party to change its stance on abortion. Original Story: Gov. John Bel Edwards and several other Louisiana Democratic officials who oppose abortion have asked their national party leaders to avoid making […]
Mystery illness kills fourth child in Louisiana
A fourth child has died in Louisiana from a coronavirus-related condition called Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C), according to a report released Monday from the Louisiana Department of Health. The LDH did not identify the child or the locations in which the deaths have occurred. MIS-C is a serious health condition in children under […]
Business is booming in Louisiana’s truck-stop casinos
There are no windows, and the lights are turned way down at this truck-stop casino in Port Allen. It’s the middle of a weekday afternoon. Mirrors line the walls to make it look bigger than it is, but this video poker hall is smaller than your average McDonald’s. It contains a bar (now closed), spacious […]
COVID-19 cases are straining the state’s healthcare capacity, Gov. Edwards warns
As the state of Louisiana reached a grim milestone of more than 100,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, Gov. John Bel Edwards and officials from the two biggest hospitals in Acadiana said Thursday that the surging number of cases, including among health-care workers, is putting Louisiana at risk of running out of staff to treat incoming […]
Louisiana sets a daily coronavirus case record
Louisiana set a new record Wednesday when it reported 2,802 new COVID-19 cases, that is, cases that cannot be significantly attributed to a backlog of old tests. The previous high point had been on April 2, when Louisiana reported 2,726 new COVID-19 cases. The number backs up what Gov. John Bel Edwards and other state […]
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards extends coronavirus restrictions
Gov. John Bel Edwards will extend the state’s current coronavirus restrictions — including its face covering mandate, 50-person gathering cap and bar closures — for an additional two weeks Friday. The limitations, commonly referred to as “Phase 2”, will now go until Aug. 7, the day after Louisiana’s public school students are scheduled to resume […]
Forty-two percent of Louisiana inmates tested have been positive for COVID-19
Since the beginning of April, Louisiana has tested about 10 percent of the state inmates that reside in the state prison system for COVID-19, and over 40 percent of the prisoners tested have been positive for the virus, according to data provided by the state Department of Corrections Thursday. Since the beginning of the pandemic, […]
Louisiana sees largest daily spike in coronavirus cases since April
Louisiana reported its largest daily increase in COVID-19 cases in three months Wednesday (July 1), with more than 2,000 tests for coronavirus coming back positive. “This disease is coming back, and it’s coming back with a vengeance, and we better start getting serious,” said Jimmy Guidry, the state health officer. Not all of the cases […]
Will Louisiana require you to wear a face mask?
Following a steady rise in coronavirus cases, a new mandate requiring residents to wear face masks in public takes effect Wednesday in Jefferson Parish. Although positive tests for COVID-19 have been found in all 64 parishes, a statewide face mask mandate does not appear to be immediately forthcoming. Jefferson Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng issued […]
Louisiana officials criticize Supreme Court’s rejection of state’s abortion restriction
WASHINGTON — Louisiana officials decried a U.S. Supreme Court ruling Monday that struck down a state abortion law and vowed to keep fighting to restrict access to the procedure. At the same time, advocates for reproductive rights breathed a sigh of relief that abortion access won’t be further restricted in a state where only three […]