COVID-19

The past week has been a tale of two pandemics.

Schools should expect some students and staff to become infected with COVID-19 this coming school year. That’s according to joint guidance released Thursday by state health and education agencies.

African Americans in Lousiana make up more than half of the deaths so far from COVID-19, but account for only one-third of the population.

The alarm among public health and government officials is rising in Louisiana and across the country this week, as coronavirus cases continue to grow and fears mount that efforts to tamp down the virus are now failing.

Most colleges and universities have released tentative plans for in-person learning this fall. But there’s a catch: Many require Louisiana to be in Phase 3 and Gov. John Bel Edwards just extended Phase 2 for an additional 28 days.

New Orleans now has a mask task force — a mask force, if you will.

As school systems continue to weigh their options for the fall, a new bill may help provide schools with increased legal protection and encourage some to resume in-person learning despite the associated risks.

Louisiana’s health department recorded 1,356 new coronavirus cases Tuesday, its highest day of positive COVID-19 cases since April 7. The number is striking, but it adds to recent trends showing rising cases and hospitalizations in the state.

By now we’ve heard time and time again how the moment we’re all living through is historic, anxious and unprecedented. A global pandemic has killed hundreds of thousands, wrecked the global economy, and created record unemployment. Anti-racism protests have mobilized millions of people around the world calling for major reforms to policing and public policy. It’s changed the way many of us live, work and think.