According to nola.com, Governor John Bel Edwards issued
a statement in July that mandates that all residents of the state of Louisiana,
above the age of eight, must wear appropriate face coverings when entering
public spaces. Despite the issuing of this regulation, there have been repeated
accounts of incidents of citizens who refuse to comply with the guidelines put
in place in order to mitigate the effects of the coronavirus outbreak.
For instance, a fight erupted at Lakeside Shopping Center in
Metairie in early July, when a woman refused to wear a mask after being asked
by one of the mall vendors. The woman did not leave the premises when asked to
do so by the security team at the mall, and she was later escorted out by the
Sheriff's Office deputies. Gretchen Conners, the 50-year-old woman who refused
to wear a mask in Lakeside Shopping Center, was booked into the Jefferson
Parish Correctional Center in Gretna with a $1,500 bond. She was released later
during the day, due to overcrowding of the jail, nola.com reports.
Similarly, two bars were issued a misdemeanor summons for
violating the state's proclamation that bans the operating and serving of
on-premises drinks at bars. The two bars in question are El Patron on Pratt
Street and Nany's Antojitos on Van Trump Street. According to Gretna's Police
Department, both establishments were serving only drinks (without food, which
is a requirement) when officers came to inspect the bars after having received
complaints.
The state of Louisiana will hold hearings to review the
possible suspension of four liquor licenses of businesses across the state that
have been operating without taking into account the legislation set in place in
order to reduce the impact of the pandemic.
