Louisiana will not be moving to phase three at the end of the week like expected, Gov. John Bel Edwards announced in a press conference.
The state will remain in phase two under a new order that will be signed later this week and extended for 28 days, he said.
Louisiana has seen a rise in cases and hospitalizations. Edwards said that due to this and the community spread that is happening, it is not safe for the state to move out of phase two at this time.
Phase two allowed restaurants, malls, gyms and other businesses to open with reduced capacity, according to the state's website.
Edwards said the number of community spread cases is increasing among younger people and they have seen clusters around bars and graduation parties that happened in the past few weeks.
“Some had hoped, thought, believed that this virus would go away once we got to the summer. It is very clear that is not happening, and not going to happen. A lot of people are saying ‘They are done with virus’ – well the virus isn’t done with us,” Edwards said.