Local News

Louisiana's Mask Mandate Is Lifted — With A Few Exceptions

WWNO - New Orleans Public Radio | By Ashley Dean,

Published April 27, 2021 at 4:05 PM CDT

A sign in the French Quarter reminds people to wear a mask. March 2021.

Gov. John Bel Edwards is lifting Louisiana's mask mandate — partially.

Masks will still be required under state law as a protective measure against the coronavirus in K-12 schools, on higher education campus, on public transportation, in health care facilities, and in state government buildings.

Privately owned businesses are still allowed to require that customers wear masks, and local jurisdictions can still enforce their own rules.

The governor announced the change at a press conference Tuesday afternoon.

Local News

Ashley Dean

Ashley Dean is the digital news editor for New Orleans Public Radio. Before coming to New Orleans, she was the editor of Denverite, a digital news startup now under the Colorado Public Radio umbrella. Prior to that she was a copy editor and features writer at the Denver Post, and before that, a music reporter for the Colorado Daily. She graduated from Columbia University with a master's degree in journalism and from Northeastern University with a bachelor's degree in journalism.

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Bobbi-Jeanne Misick

Bobbi-Jeanne Misick reports on health and criminal and social justice issues. Previously she worked as a reporter and producer in the Caribbean, covering a range of topics from different LGBTQ issues in the region to extrajudicial killings in Jamaica and the rise of extremism in Trinidad and Tobago. Bobbi-Jeanne is a graduate of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. Before that, she worked as an assistant editor and pop culture writer for Essence.com.

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