Governor Edwards Brings Back Statewide Mask Mandate

In a press conference on Monday, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards has announced that he is bringing back the statewide mask mandate.

The new mask mandate will go into effect on Wednesday, August 4th - for both vaccinated and unvaccinated people - age 5 and older. Edwards says the mandate is a temporary indoor mandate that will stay in place until at least September 1st but may be extended if he deems it necessary.

This statewide mask mandate also includes all school campuses, which includes K-12 and college students.

On Friday, Edwards mentioned that he was considering bringing back the statewide mandate after getting requests from numerous health officials to re-implement the statewide mask mandate.

“It has never been more clear that we are in an unchecked COVID surge that, in addition to threatening the health and wellbeing of many Louisianans, also threatens the capacity of our hospitals and medical facilities to deliver care to their patients," said Edwards. “This decision is not one I take lightly, but as the fourth surge of COVID-19 is upon us, we know that mask-wearing, when you are in public, is one way to greatly lower your risk of spreading or catching COVID. Being vaccinated against COVID-19 is another. We have the tools we need to slow the spread of COVID-19 in our communities and save lives, and I am pleading with unvaccinated Louisianans to get their shot as soon as they can to protect themselves. We can end this nightmare, but it is going to take all of us working together to do it.”

EXCEPTIONS TO MANDATE

Edwards did list some exceptions to the mask mandate, such as:

Anyone who has a medical condition that prevents the wearing of a face covering.
Anyone who is consuming a drink or food
Anyone who is trying to communicate with a person who is hearing impaired
Anyone who is giving a speech for broadcast or to an audience
Anyone temporarily removing his or her face covering for identification purposes