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Updated: Jan. 26, 2023 at 4:50 PM CST
|By The Associated Press
The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday lifted a judge’s decision to strike down a ban on mask mandates by public schools and government entities. But attorneys disagreed over whether the ruling will allow the state to begin enforcing the law.
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Updated: Oct. 17, 2022 at 12:48 PM CDT
|By WAFB Staff
This is your one-stop-shop guide to everything you need to know about the impact of COVID-19.
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Updated: Feb. 22, 2022 at 9:21 PM CST
|By Louisiana Department of Health
The deaths took place in the past week.
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Updated: Feb. 22, 2022 at 1:00 PM CST
|By Josh Auzenne
The Louisiana Department of Health reported three children died from COVID-19 over the past week, including two who were under five years old.
Updated: Feb. 15, 2022 at 6:25 PM CST
|By Sabrina Wilson
LCMC Health says its hospitals are ready to treat Mardi Gras patients. State health officer Dr. Joe Kanter is optimistic that the parades will not cause a spike in COVID-19 cases.
Updated: Feb. 14, 2022 at 3:17 PM CST
|By WAFB Staff
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards held a news conference on the state’s response to COVID-19 on Monday, Feb. 14.
Updated: Feb. 3, 2022 at 7:55 PM CST
|By Sabrina Wilson
Health care professionals say a COVID-19 vaccine for younger children is needed. Pfizer is asking the FDA to authorize its vaccine for kids under age 5 and as young as 6 months old.
Updated: Jan. 19, 2022 at 6:54 PM CST
|By The Associated Press
The state Department of Health reported Wednesday that COVID-19 hospitalizations increased by 113 to 1,600.
Updated: Jan. 18, 2022 at 12:10 PM CST
|By Matthew Segura
The 5th surge has been the biggest surge of COVID yet, in terms of the number of new cases.
Updated: Jan. 17, 2022 at 6:08 PM CST
|By Olivia Vidal
Health officials say you should not rely on a single negative test result to believe you are free of the virus.
7 Day Forecast
Updated: Jan. 13, 2022 at 4:41 PM CST
|By The Associated Press
Officials hope the state is nearing a peak in new COVID-19 infections but they don’t yet see data indicating the peak has arrived.
Updated: Jan. 11, 2022 at 5:38 PM CST
|By Matthew Segura
In-person classes should resume on Jan. 18.
Updated: Jan. 10, 2022 at 5:34 AM CST
|By Christian Piekos
Medical workers are currently caring for 228 people with COVID in Shreveport-Bossier.
Updated: Jan. 7, 2022 at 5:01 PM CST
|By Matthew Segura
The new policy gives more flexibility on mask-wearing and quarantine.
Updated: Jan. 6, 2022 at 3:07 PM CST
|By Rob Masson
The message for tourists is to come vaxxed, masked, and COVID-free.
Updated: Jan. 6, 2022 at 1:53 PM CST
|By Matthew Segura
The positivity rate for this group of tests is 20%.
Updated: Jan. 5, 2022 at 12:45 PM CST
|By WAFB Staff
The Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) estimates the proportion of Omicron cases in our state has increased from 88.5% to 90.2% for the week ending January 1.*
Updated: Jan. 4, 2022 at 4:55 PM CST
|By Rob Masson
Doctors said the next two to four weeks will be crucial in the fight against the latest super-contagious variant of COVID-19.
Updated: Jan. 3, 2022 at 10:15 AM CST
|By Mykal Vincent
The Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles has closed several locations due to COVID-19.
Updated: Dec. 30, 2021 at 11:54 AM CST
|By Mykal Vincent
On one side of town, omicron is shuttering business, but in the French Quarter, New Year's Eve is a full send.
Updated: Dec. 30, 2021 at 11:49 AM CST
|By Mykal Vincent
A spokesperson for Governor John Bel Edwards says they cannot find a single day with more new cases since the beginning of the pandemic.
Updated: Dec. 29, 2021 at 1:30 PM CST
|By The Associated Press
Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed the ban into law in April, though he has since said he regretted that decision.
Updated: Dec. 29, 2021 at 12:46 PM CST
|By Matthew Segura
We're seeing a new spike in hospitalizations related to the coronavirus.
Updated: Dec. 29, 2021 at 12:40 PM CST
|By Mykal Vincent
Three African lions at the Audubon Zoo tested positive for COVID-19.
Updated: Dec. 23, 2021 at 12:47 PM CST
|By WAFB Staff
The Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) estimates the proportion of Omicron cases in our state is 84.6% for the week ending December 18.
Updated: Dec. 20, 2021 at 4:09 PM CST
|By FOX 8 Staff
“All the telltale signs are there,” said OLOL Chief Medical Officer Catherine O'Neal.
Updated: Dec. 20, 2021 at 3:25 PM CST
|By The Associated Press
Months after emerging from a fourth surge of the coronavirus outbreak, Louisiana again is starting to see growing numbers of COVID-19 cases
Updated: Dec. 20, 2021 at 1:52 PM CST
|By Mykal Vincent
Customers who have appointments booked during the closure must reschedule.
Updated: Dec. 16, 2021 at 1:49 PM CST
|By WAFB Staff
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards held his annual “end of the year” news conference on Thursday, Dec. 16. He talked about the challenges faced in 2021.
Updated: Dec. 6, 2021 at 10:31 PM CST
|By Kailynn Johnson and Quentin Smith
The Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) reported the first case of the COVID-19 Omicron variant in the state on Monday, December 6.
Updated: Dec. 6, 2021 at 5:50 PM CST
|By Chris Rosato
A proposal by the Louisiana Department of Health to require the COVID-19 vaccine for most school children drew lots of attention to a Louisiana House Health and Welfare Committee meeting on Monday, Dec. 6.
Updated: Nov. 15, 2021 at 1:40 PM CST
|By WAFB Staff
The number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in Louisiana has dropped to its lowest level since the state started reporting the statistic.
Updated: Nov. 4, 2021 at 12:22 PM CDT
|By Mykal Vincent
"So many things that just don’t make sense, not to mention the breach of individual liberty"
Updated: Oct. 27, 2021 at 6:12 AM CDT
|By Nick Gremillion
Louisiana’s statewide mask mandate will expire, except for K-12 schools, on Wednesday, Oct. 27.
Updated: Oct. 15, 2021 at 10:25 AM CDT
|By Mykal Vincent and Olivia Vidal
The CDC said opioids accounted for the highest number of overdose deaths.
Updated: Sep. 28, 2021 at 11:41 AM CDT
|By WAFB Staff
All 14 cases involved mothers who were unvaccinated, and resulted in 6 maternal deaths and 10 fetal deaths.
Updated: Sep. 17, 2021 at 12:17 PM CDT
|By WAFB Staff
Officials with the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) say a sixth child has died from COVID-19 in the state’s fourth surge of the virus.
Updated: Aug. 25, 2021 at 11:59 AM CDT
|By Matthew Segura
The Walmart Supercenter in Monroe is shutting its doors to customers temporarily to focus on COVID-19 mitigation.
Updated: Aug. 25, 2021 at 6:16 AM CDT
|By WAFB Staff
The Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services will continue issuing Summer P-EBT benefits as schools submit their student’s eligibility information.
Updated: Aug. 24, 2021 at 9:11 PM CDT
|By Briseida Holguin
A grieving mother is sharing her pain as a warning to other families after she lost her 16-year-old son to COVID-19.
Updated: Aug. 23, 2021 at 7:21 AM CDT
|By WAFB Staff
BESE officials stated that there are no plans to reschedule the meeting.
Updated: Aug. 20, 2021 at 5:18 PM CDT
|By Jasmine Anderson
State health experts said young individuals, as young as infants, are getting and spreading the virus.
Updated: Aug. 20, 2021 at 2:47 PM CDT
|By Nick Gremillion
Gov. John Bel Edwards held a news conference on Friday, August 20, about Louisiana’s continued fourth surge of COVID-19.
Updated: Aug. 19, 2021 at 5:09 PM CDT
|By WAFB Staff
LSU has advised several of its Greek chapters that their members must be tested for COVID-19 after university officials detected the virus in samples of wastewater from Greek houses on campus, a university spokesperson tells WAFB.
Updated: Aug. 19, 2021 at 10:56 AM CDT
|By Matthew Segura
Police say a fatal crash happened on LA Hwy 139, just north of US Hwy 80.
Updated: Aug. 18, 2021 at 12:44 PM CDT
|By Matthew Segura
A week ago 20% of new cases were in children. The week before that it was 18.7%.
Updated: Aug. 17, 2021 at 5:56 PM CDT
|By The Associated Press
Arkansas on Tuesday reported 41 more COVID-19 deaths as the number of people hospitalized from the virus dropped.
Updated: Aug. 17, 2021 at 3:44 PM CDT
|By WAFB Staff
The erroneous post appears to be a screenshot of a TV news story and incorporates LDWF’s logo with the words “BREAKING NEWS” and “No Vaccine, No Hunting.”
Updated: Aug. 17, 2021 at 1:51 PM CDT
|By Stacey Cameron
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Louisiana ranks last in the country when it comes to the percentage of nursing home staff fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Updated: Aug. 16, 2021 at 10:36 PM CDT
|By Lester Duhé
Local doctors are working to dispel a few myths about certain medicines, some folks think can help them treat COVID-19.