In a press conference yesterday, Governor John Bel Edwards issued some stern warnings for the state of Louisiana concerning rising cases of COVID-19.

He urged Louisiana residents to follow COVID-19 prevention guidelines set forth by the state, including wearing a mask in public. He reported that Louisiana had over 2,000 new coronavirus cases on July 1. He did clarify that number by saying 900 of the 2.083 confirmed cases were backlogged from earlier tests sent to an out of state lab. Edwards did say those 900 cases do cause him concern because they were back from the middle of June when COVID-19 hospitalizations started to increase.

The governor went on to say the state has lost all its progress with the lowering of the state's coronavirus cases it had in the middle of June.

Edwards is also concerned about the rising cases in Baton Rouge, especially since we're seeing a huge rise in cases of persons aged 18 - 29. That doesn't bode well for a large college town. The news broke a few hours before his press conference that the city of Baton Rouge is now making it mandatory to wear a mask in public. In response to that, Edwards said he is not going to make a mask mandatory state mandate at this time.

He said the current surge in positive COVID-19 tests can be traced to the Memorial Day weekend, so he cautioned residents to take extra precautions for the upcoming Fourth of July weekend.

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