Gov. John Bel Edwards keeps state in Phase 3 until Dec. 4

BATON ROUGE, La. (KLFY) -- Gov. John Bel Edwards announced today in a press conference that he will sign a new proclamation keeping the state in Phase 3 of the COVID-19 mitigation measures for the next 28 days -- until Dec. 4.

No changes are expected in the Phase 3 mandates, including the mask mandate.

Edwards said data shows that Louisiana has the 44th worst COVID-19 rate of positivity in the nation, down from 35th in the nation last week. While that seems like relatively good news, Edwards said the reason other states have passed up Louisiana isn't because Louisiana's positivity rate is dropping. Louisiana is in a plateau, currently. Instead, other states' positivity rates are rising. Edwards said Louisiana continues to stay around the same rate it has since the second surge of the disease.

Edwards said most of the recent oubreaks of COVID-19 have come from small gatherings instead of large ones. In fact, small gatherings can be more dangerous since people are more likely to let their guard down and remain unmasked and not socially distanced.

Edwards also recommended Louisianans get their flu shots as early as they can. Currently, Edwards said the flu is not as strong as it has been in previous years statewide. The same mitigation measures that stop the spread of COVID-19 are the same that stop the spread of the flu, he said.