Gov. Edwards meets with President Trump as La. reports 27,600 cases of COVID-19, 1,802 deaths

NEW ORLEANS, La. (WVUE) - As of Wednesday, April 29, the Louisiana Department of Health reported the following cases for the state.

· 27,660 positive cases

· 1,802 deaths

The number of patients needing ventilators was 244 Wednesday. It peaked at 571 in early April.

More than 17,000 are “presumed recovered” in the state figures.

1,629 patients remain hospitalized.

SEE FULL COVERAGE OF THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC HERE

Louisiana residents are in for two more weeks of the stay at home order.

According to the Associated Press, Republican state lawmakers are upset at Edwards’ decision to extend the state’s stay-at-home order through May 15.

Lawmakers are now considering taking a step to attempt to override the governor’s decision.

Edwards is currently in Washington D.C. meeting with president Donald Trump to discuss his response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Governor John Bel Edwards says its needed to get the state to meet phase one criteria to reopen, but he did relax some of the restrictions.

Edwards did announce some changes at the end of next week. Restaurants can open outside areas for meals without table service.

There will be three changes to the stay-at-home order that will go into effect on May 1:

· Outdoor sections of restaurants will be allowed to reopen. However, there will be no table service.

· While malls will remain closed, stores at those malls will be allowed to offer curbside retail.

· All workers who interact with the public must wear masks.

Edwards says Louisiana has stopped short of overwhelming the health care system and that’s because people have taken the stay at home order seriously.

Louisiana reports more than 27,000 COVID-19 cases and estimates that about 17,000 of those have recovered.

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