Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards has created a task force to deal with the Coronavirus, also named COVID-19.

The purpose of the COVID-19 Task Force is help any agency in state government and any private entity in the state be able to deal with and respond to the virus.

One of the biggest things that Governor John Bel Edwards' group wants people to understand is that there are currently no confirmed cases of coronavirus in the state of Louisiana.

Edwards says that state agencies are now prepared to handle cases of this virus, and there is a test that is available.

There have been confirmed reports of coronavirus on the East Coast and two deaths in Washington state, and the CDC says sixty cases have been reported across America. Officials in Louisiana will be monitoring the situation very carefully.

Just last week the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that it's not a question of if the virus will spread further in the United States, but when.

Edwards says Louisiana is prepared. All state agencies are on alert, and he has requested that they each develop a plan to coincide with their GOSEP plans that would allow for the contingency of coronavirus.

Governor John Bel Edwards says,

While we currently do not have any confirmed cases of coronavirus in Louisiana, we do anticipate that we will in the future. That's why Louisiana's Department of Health and other agencies have been planning for several weeks on how the state will respond to prevent the spread of the virus and protect the health of the public. As a state, Louisiana has been planning for pandemics for 15 years, and we will use this experience to guide how we react and respond to the coronavirus, should it impact our state. For now, people should take commonsense steps to protect themselves from respiratory illness, including washing their hands, covering their mouths when they cough and avoiding going out in public when they are sick.

There are multiple agencies that are part of Louisiana's COVID-19 Task Force, and they are as follows:

  • Louisiana Department of Health
  • Office of Public Health
  • Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Prepardness
  • Louisiana State Police
  • 211
  • United State Coast Guard
  • Louisiana National Guard
  • Division of Administration
  • Department of Education
  • Department of Children and Family Services
  • Louisiana Department of Justice

This task force will offer guidance to any agency or businesses in the state that require help.

 

As an initial step, the COVID-19 Task Force is recommending that all state agencies review and update their Continuity of Operations Plans (COOP) that were developed statewide in 2012 under GOHSEP direction to take coronavirus into account.

For updates on the state’s response to the coronavirus situation, visit LDH.louisiana.gov/Coronavirus.

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