Governor To Announce Decision on Phase 2 at 2:30

Today is a big day for the State of Louisiana. Governor John Bel Edwards is expected to announce today whether or not the state will move into Phase 2 of the reopening process on Friday. During his weekly update on May 29th, the Governor noted that the State is making great strides in flattening the curve. However, he stopped short of saying that entering Phase 2 was certain.

As of Sunday, May 31, there are now just 678 hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Of those, only 84 are on ventilators. Both of those numbers are significantly less than when the virus was at its peak.

The Governor has also not indicated what Phase 2 will look like if we do move in that direction. According to information provided by the state for safely reopening, there's a lot of information lacking from State's plan. Below is the information publicly available regarding Phase 2:

Move to PHASE 2 Criteria: TBD (minimum number of days from Phase 1 without relapse)  All Phase 1 gates maintained and successfully completed w/o reverting to previous phase (Revert to Phase 0 if evidence of rapidly increase in CLI, cases, or Med Services become unstable);  Additional occupancy types TBD.

Below is the White House's Phase 2 guidelines:

• BARS may operate with diminished standing-room occupancy, where applicable and appropriate

• NON-ESSENTIAL TRAVEL can resume

• LARGE VENUES (e.g., sit-down dining, movie theaters, sporting venues, places of worship) can operate under moderate physical distancing protocols

It should be noted, that Phase 2 really is dependent on the state as very few are identical.

Hopefully, we'll get a clearer idea of what Phase 2 will look like, how long it will last and when we'll transition at today's news Conference. You'll be able to watch the Governor's statements below beginning at 2:30.