BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards held a news conference on the state’s response to COVID-19 on Monday, Feb. 14.
The governor said the state has made great progress in the fight against COVID-19 since the Omicron variant’s peak in early January.
However, he said the state has a long way to go in reducing the spread of the virus, hospitalizations, and deaths.
COVID-19 hospitalizations have dropped to half of what they were during the Omicron peak.
On Monday, the Louisiana Department of Health reported 3,039 new cases of COVID-19 and 1,135 patients hospitalized with the virus statewide.
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Monday’s news conference was the first time the governor spoke publicly since the Louisiana Legislature created a special committee to investigate the death of Ronald Greene, who died while in the custody of Louisiana State Police in May 2019 in Monroe.
Louisiana Speaker of the House, Clay Schexnayder announced Thursday, Feb. 10 that a select bipartisan committee has been created to review all aspects of the Ronald Greene case. (WAFB) Gov. Edwards issued a statement on Thursday, Feb. 10 about the creation of the committee.
“I welcome any and all legislative oversight and hope that this will be a productive, nonpartisan discussion of how to continue the ongoing reforms at Louisiana State Police so that what happened the night of Ronald Greene’s death never happens again.
Like so many others, I am anxiously awaiting the outcome of the federal civil rights investigation into Mr. Greene’s death. I am hopeful that the outcome of this investigation, which has been pending for more than two years, will provide answers and justice for the Greene family.
I agree wholeheartedly with the Speaker that transparency is necessary in any investigation into this matter, whether that investigation is conducted by the USDOJ, the Senate Committee on State Police Oversight that has been conducting hearings on this matter, or this newly created House Select Committee. I am certain that any fair and impartial investigation will conclude that I made no attempt to impede or interfere with any investigation into Mr. Greene’s death. Any allegation to the contrary is simply not true.
I continue to pray for Mr. Greene’s family and it is my sincere hope the study by this committee into the events surrounding his death is an earnest investigation into the truth of what has happened since the early morning hours of May 10, 2019. They deserve no less.”
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