staff reporter Nora Drenner

Today, Monday, April 27, at 4 p.m., Gov. Edwards will make an important announcement about the current COVID-19 Stay at Home order set to expire April 30. He will also provide an update on the state’s response to the coronavirus
During his news conferences late last week, Gov. Edwards said, “I want people to have their expectations in check because Phase I is a very gradual relaxation of restrictions. It’s not like we’ll be going back to where we were before. When we meet the threshold criteria, we will be able to go to Phase I accompanied by robust testing and contact tracing.”
“Louisiana needs to be able to conduct about 200,000 tests per month, “ said Edwards . “To move to Phase I, the federal requirement is about 150,000 per month, he commented. “ Any move beyond Phase 1 will require higher testing capacity and contact tracing,” he explained. “At the very least, our cases are flat and have been for a number of days, and it appears we’ve pretty much plateaued on the daily reports of deaths. But we intend to move forward in a way that is smart and protects public health while restarting our economy.”
Additionally, Edwards commented last week his new order would most likely include employees to wear a mask at work. “If you want to run a business, and want the public to come in, then your workers ought to be in a mask,” he said. He had previously encouraged all persons to mask up when leaving home.