BATON ROUGE, La (KLFY) — Tomorrow, the current COVID-19 public health emergency proclamation expires. A new emergency proclamation will go into effect, but restrictions will change once again, including a lift of the state-wide mask mandate.

Gov. Edwards held a press briefing at 2 p.m. today to update guidelines moving forward in the state’s response to the pandemic.

Last week, the governor changed the guidelines so that fully vaccinated individuals were not required to wear masks in public, but as of tomorrow, the state-wide mask mandate is lifted, with the following exceptions, where they will still be required:

  • Health facilities
  • Public transit
  • Jails and correctional facilities

The mask mandate for educational settings ends at the end of the academic year, and each school district will set its own guidelines for summer programs.

Businesses will continue to set their own guidelines as well, but Edwards removed capacity restrictions for the state.

Gov. Edwards continues to encourage wearing masks and getting vaccinated, as 99.9% of Covid-related deaths were unvaccinated individuals.

Louisiana is at an all-time low in hospitalized Covid cases since the start of the pandemic, with only 269 residents in hospitals to be treated for Covid, as of Tuesday.

“We are not yet on a one-way street that carries us away from the pandemic, and that is because we don’t yet have the percentage of people vaccinated that we need to feel that degree of confidence,” Edwards said. “But every day gets better and better.”

There are currently three confirmed cases of the Indian variant in Louisiana.

Louisiana Department of Health State Health Officer Dr. Kanter says the best way to combat the spread of this variant is to get vaccinated.

“The less people that are vaccinated, the more opportunity the virus has to spread and mutate,” Kanter said.

Gov. Edwards also said that the national rank in per capita in Covid cases is now at number 31 for Louisiana, a vast change from holding the number 1 spot at the start of the pandemic.

Visit Vaccines.gov for a list of available vaccination sites or call the Louisiana vaccine Hotline at 1-855-453-0774.