Immediate and bold action is required by everyone to prevent devastation to our health and economy from the alarming resurgence of the coronavirus in East Baton Rouge Parish and Louisiana.

New daily cases in East Baton Rouge Parish have quadrupled in the last month. Hospitalizations in our region for COVID-19 have increased 145% just in the last week. Our positivity rate of people getting tested in East Baton Rouge Parish was 14.5% this week. We are practically back to where we were a few months ago.

The solutions are simple: wear a mask, go get tested, avoid crowds, and avoid close contact with people outside your household or core support group. If we don’t work together to move forward, we will be forced backwards.

This is why I instituted a mask order last week, and support Governor Edwards in his latest order today. I will enforce these common sense steps, as we have been doing in East Baton Rouge Parish by communicating directly with businesses or non-profits who directly interact with the public.

I’m calling on everyone to do the right thing and comply because our health and economy are at risk.