Louisiana senator weighs in on COVID surge
BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) - Louisiana hit another new COVID case record on Tuesday. With over 6,700 new cases overnight it is the second highest day since Jan.
Senator Bill Cassidy said this on-going trend is going to hurt the state's economy.
"We're that much further from recovering. An association [is] less likely to have their convention in Louisiana if they think there's a lot of COVID here,” Sen. Cassidy said. “You're less likely to have a tourist go through north Louisiana to see all the beautiful things until we know we have a low COVID rate. So this helps our economy recover.”
The CDC is now asking all people regardless of vaccination status to wear masks inside in high case areas, like Louisiana. They also suggested students and staff in K-12 schools should wear a mask when they can’t social distance. When asked if he would support a vaccine mandate, the senator said they are nothing new.
"I think we need to separate out if an institution makes a decision such as this as if this is something strange and new,” Sen. Cassidy said. “This is commonly done. I'll also point out that hospitals typically require flu immunization or else they require the person who does not take the flu immunization to take certain precautions."
Other members of the Louisiana delegation are urging people to get vaccinated. Rep. Steve Scalise just got his first dose this month and Rep. Julia Letlow is a supporter of the vaccine after losing her husband to COVID. None have said if they support a mandate.
"We've been here for about a year and the side effects associated with the vaccine are like.01% and the death rate from coronavirus is far higher,” Sen. Cassidy said. “Even if you don't die, there is the problem of the long-haulers."
He said he's spoken with those in charge of getting the vaccines full FDA approval and they cannot release a timeline of when that will be.