Dr. Joe Kanter called this a “make or break” week to change the course of the virus in Louisiana.
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana — Brigtsen’s restaurant in Uptown New Orleans reopened its dining room just last week.
For the past three months, it was takeout only.
“We’ve got one week under our belt and things went really well,” Chef and owner Frank Brigtsen said.
Brigtsen worries just when the Coronavirus was getting to a point where he felt safe serving dine in customers with proper precautions, the number of new cases is going back up again.
“When you look at us relative to the rest of the state and the rest of the country, the city of New Orleans has been pretty good,” Brigtsen said. “Naturally, those numbers are going to slide up. So, it’s very concerning.”
Louisiana Assistant State Health Officer Dr. Joe Kantor admits COVID trends in the Bayou State are heading in the wrong direction.
“We’re seeing increases in cases in every region of the state, increases in hospitalization across the state and increases in the number of patients going to emergency department with symptoms concerning for COVID,” Kanter said.
Last week saw twice as many new cases than the week before
The positive rate for COVID tests statewide is now hovering around 6 percent.
Dr. Kanter called this a “make or break” week to change the course of the virus in Louisiana.
“Nobody wants to be talking about more restrictions or more closures of businesses,” Kanter said. “But in order to not have to have that conversation, we need to act responsibly.”
Kanter added we’ve been here before in March and April and later in July and August and we know what to do to control the spread.
“Wearing a mask or face covering anytime you’re around someone that is not in your immediate household pod, whether you’re in a store or workplace or just hanging out,” Kanter said. “Number two, distancing, six feet is kind of a rough benchmark that we use. Those two things combined will go almost all the way to preventing the type of community spread that we’re seeing to accumulate right now.”
Back at Brigtsen’s, the chef says being responsible and wearing a mask is a small price to pay to protect yourself and the health of local small businesses.
“I am tired of wearing masks and face shields and gloves. But you won’t see me without it. There’s too much at stake.”
Dr. Kanter is concerned COVID-19 numbers could spike even higher over the Thanksgiving holiday.
He says one trend line he’s seen over the past month is more cases are originating from informal gatherings like family dinners and backyard get-togethers.
Kanter recommends you keep your Thanksgiving dinner guest list to those inside your immediate household pod.
November 17, 2020 at 07:06AM
https://www.wwltv.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/just-as-louisiana-was-reopening-covid-numbers-send-a-warning/289-8e525cb5-769c-46ec-9e7a-0af352908fa4
Just as Louisiana was reopening, COVID numbers send a warning - WWLTV.com
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