Louisiana keeping current virus restrictions amid case spike

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana won’t be further easing its restrictions on businesses because the state is seeing a troubling, recent uptick in coronavirus cases, Gov. John Bel Edwards announced Monday, as the state exceeded the grim mark of 3,000 deaths from the outbreak.

The Democratic governor said he’ll keep in place the current limitations on restaurants, bars, retailers and other businesses enacted on June 5, which were set to expire Friday. He's extending the restrictions until July 24.

Edwards was considering moving Louisiana from Phase 2 to Phase 3 of reopening under the White House guidelines. But he decided against the move based on the latest surge in cases of the COVID-19 disease caused by the coronavirus and hospitalizations over the last week.

The regulations that will be renewed keep churches, restaurants, coffee shops, bars with a food permit, gyms, hair and nail salons, museums and other businesses limited to 50% capacity. Bars that don’t have a food permit will remain limited to 25% occupancy.

Massage facilities, bowling alleys, casinos, public pools and tattoo shops have their own specific restrictions. Live music and theater venues will stay closed. Employees interacting with the public still will be required to wear masks.

Louisiana is nowhere near its height of COVID-19 cases in early April, when public health officials and the governor worried the New Orleans region was at risk of exceeding its available hospital beds and running out of ventilators.

Still, Edwards said he wants to make sure the state continues to avoid that scenario.

The Louisiana Department of Health has confirmed about 4,000 new COVID-19 and 98 new deaths over the last week, as more businesses have reopened and restrictions on activities have loosened. State...