morning a block

morning a block

Welcome back, 'm alex worstell... and yo're watching news15 today and 'm carter simoneaux... thanks for tuning in!

3 ther's been a number of important local developments in our communit's covid-19 crisis.

W're going to walk you through... starting with the latest covid-19 numbers in acadiana.there are currently a total of 397 cases of covid-19 in acadiana..... 159 cases in lafayette parish, 49 cases in iberia, 47 in acadia, 45 in st.

Landry, 41 in st.

Martin, 26 in st.

Mary, 11 in evangeline, 10 in vermilion, and 9 cases in jeff davis parish.the louisiana department of health also reporting 9 deaths in acadiana.

3 in st.

Martin, 2 in lafayette parish, 1 death in iberia, 1 in acadia parish, 1 in st.

Landry, and 1 death in vermilion parish.

Taking a look at the total covid-19 numbers across our state...there are now more than 64-hundred cases with 273 dead here in louisiana.right now almost 15-hundred people are in the hospital... 490 of those patients are on ventilators.

60 out of the 64 parishes have covid-19 cases in them.... a little over 42- thousand commercial tests have been completed... just over 36 hundred have been done by the stat's lab.

3 with k-12 schools closed through out the state, lcg officials reminded everyone at their daily presser wednesday that lafayette parish has curfew for minors from 8 p.m.

Til 6 a.m.

News 1's leigha mcneil has more... standup: after about a week of the governor stay at home order many folks are heading outside to get a change of scenery and some fresh air but the lafayette police department wants to remind everyone that there is a curfew in place for minors... "w're not holding off on any type of arrest whether it be juveniles or not if we have a juvenile that we find in violation of that we were treated just like any other violation of curfew" its buiness as usual at the lafayette police department, interum police chief scott morgan says parents and guardians will we held accountable if minors are found out past curfewthe parent and the child are both held responsible for going to court i definitely aee with a minor curfew local business owner ross genterie believes the curfew is needed to enforce covid 19 restrictionsthey might not be practicing social distancing on their own without supervision so i might not take it seriously though other acadiana areas have enacted parish wide curfews...lafayette communications officer jamie angelle its is an option if necessary at this point there are no plans right at this moment to implement any additional curfews if we were not ruling it out completely for the future but i's an option but as of right now none of that is in playin lafayette leigha mcneil news 15 leut.

Morgan says things have been fairly normal as far as the amount of juvenile arrest they have made.

Of acadian's 8 parihes... 4 of them..

Have parish wide curfews for both minors and adults.

Iberia and st.

Martin parishes have also enacted a curfew for all residents from 10 in the evening until 5 in the morning.the curfew applies to everyone except emergency personnel and people going to and from work.

The town of delcambre in vermilion parish has established a curfew that is also from 10pm until 5am and it is effective immediately for everyone except essential workers.

3 while it may seem like the panic buying at the grocery stores has died down, officials say you still need to be taking precautions... mayor president josh guillory says continuing to practice social distancing while yo're shopping is key when stopping the spread..

Like academy for example tha's just one business all the top of my head have implemented a temper is in row and they are literally counting out their customers i think tha's a very common sense tactic, the first line defense starts with us it starts with a social distancing works officials are also urging shoppers to only touch items they need in order to reduce the spread mayor jennifer vidrine of ville platte announced via favebook post starting wednesday all grocery stores will be limiting the number of people in the store at one time..there are a wide variety of stores in ville platte that agreed to participate in the new policy... and according to the mayors facebook post she says quote "please cooperate, be patient, everyone does not need to go to the store on the same day at the same time"... all in a effort to stop the spread of covid-19.

" basically because this is whats best for the community and we have to take care of them.

We are implementing only ten customers in the store at a time because of the size of our store...its not as big as walmart and these other big stores so everyone is confine to eachother and itll just make it a little safer for our customers."

For the full list of stores impacted by the ville plate mayo's post, head to our website kadn dot com.

3 it may take weeks for relief checks to go out from the 2-trillion dollar rescue package..

But what about relief for individuals wh's mortage payments are due now?

Or the small businesses owners who are struggleing to keep their staff employed.

News1's rain augustine spoke with mortgage loan officers and small businesses experts on reielf options during this time .

"i's going to keep people from falling behind on their mortage, affecting their credit scores, and i's also going to give them some time to figugre out wha's going on."

Mortage companies around the country are assisting homeowners who are unable to make mortgage payments due to covid-19."my mortage company told us that for any assistnace thay w're getting we have to go and apply online."the cares act offers relief to homeowners with federally backed loans, but those who have mortgages with private lenders must check with their service provider.

Flame williams says she was met with many re-payment options after checking with her lending institution ."some companies are doing forberances, some are doing deferments, and all of them are different."

Ther's are also relief options for small businesses.

Joanna lawrence, deputy district director for the small business administration explains how the new paycheck protection act could save jobs."the purpose of the program is designed for employers to keep their people working, and if the've had to fourlough them to bring them back on board."lawrence says proactive measures put in place should provide a sense of cerntaincy to lenders.

"with them being able to bring the staff back and pay them, of course tha's going to help the economy."

If you are looking for loan re-payment assistnace experts suggest contacting to your service provider"the worst thing you can do is not contact the ywould much rather here from you and speak to you... yo ucant just assume that they know you are being affected."

In lafayette, rain augustine "there was't anything "they would rather here from you then here nothing at all."

Busineses looking to apply for the for more information on financial releif due to the corona virus you can visit benefits dot gov to apply.

3 the pandemic is pushing hospitals to the brink.

From lack of protective equipment to fears of infecting their loved ones.

Health care workers are facing the biggest challenge of their careers.

Ne's 15 got exclusive interviews with nurses from acadiana to new orleans on the struggles the're facing and what the're seeing.

Here in acadiana, one nurse tells news 15 there are not enough n-95 masks for the nurses... so they are having to reuse their masks until they fall apart.

Even though the physical aspects have gotten much harder for the medical staff, she says the emotional side is the one that hurts the most.

"as doctors and nurses were use to people dying tha's part of it.

Having to tell someone over the phone and they can come and hug their loved one and tell them over the phone say goodbye one last time that part does't get any easier."

After speaking with more nurses who detail working through this pandemic, new1's cassie schirm has the story... well, three words came up the most: grueling, exhausting and all consuming.tha's how those on the front lines are describing this battle against cover 19.with the number of patients rising scores the state health care professionals are being pushed to their limits.

I spoke with one new orleans nurse who tells me her story and how everyone is coming together to fight this fight.

"things are kind of just crazy once we had one patient it just seems like they came in one after the other after the next"26 year old blair guidry is a cardiac medical icu nurse at oechsne's ...fighting covid 19 on the front lines in new orleans."our unit has one of the highest mortality rates so we are used to seeing a lot of deaths but this seems to be more just all of a sudden kind of process for death.

"her unit is seeing even more death with this virus."i's people of all ages that are coming in and fighting for their life i think tha's just the hardest part and also not having any family at bedside for them i's hard to watch too because w're already empathetic and the family members a car and the crying i ca't be there and so tha's just really hard to hear their voices in to know the struggle and just reassure them that this is equally hard for me as it is for you because were used to taking care of the patient and the family also."

This has been hitting guidry hard emotionally.

"for me personally emotionally and 'm not an emotional person but this just seems to be taking a toll and i's really difficult i's something to take very seriously."even with the emotional and physical stress she says i's worth it.

"i ca't imagine doing anything else."but as the unit fights to keep people alive guidry says there are some positives the're coming together even more as a team.

"our unit is already based on an amazing teamwork and this is just really bringing us together and closer"and the community is showing their support through cards, food and thank yous."w've gotten a lot of support from the community despite what the're going through as well not be able to go to work i's humbling i's nice to have that support.

"now governor john bel edwards says we soon will be running low on beds, ventilators and supplies across the state.

This is a fear that has run through the three year nurses mind.

11:16 i's something tha's crossed my mind but i do you think that 've seen for example at my hospital do you know open up three new 30 to accommodate the serious patients to the three that we already have.

So i do see moves being made in the right direction.this is not just new orleans i's a nationwide so w're not the only ones that are struggling with the supplies lack of and stuff like that"guidry says she has one message to all of louisiana.

"stay strong and stay home because tha's all we can do stay strong."now guidry tells me its a fight we are all going to have to do together to stop this spread.

In lafayette 'm cassie schirm news 15.

3 this morning a legendary new orleans jazz musician is dead, and sources say it was from covid-19.

Jazz player ellis marsalis junior passed away wednesday following complications with pneumonia.... caused by covid-19, according to one of his sons.

Marsalis was an icon on the new orleans jazz scene, teaching and playing music for years.... and enjoyed a big resurgence in popularity, when sons..

Branford and wynton marsalis..

Also started gaining fame, for their own jazz music.

H's survived by his six sons.

Ellis marsalis junior was 85-years-old.

The new loan portfolio guaranty program will soon begin offering loans up to 100- thousand dollars for small businesses with fewer than 100 employees.governor john bel edwards announced at a presser wednesday that payment on the loans wo't need to begin until 180 days after the're issued and will have interest rates at 3-point-5 percent or lower.

Food banks around louisiana will be seeing stocked shelves thanks to atmos energy and their robert w.

Best charitable giving fund.to help children and families affected by covid-19...atmos energy announced a one point 5 million dollar donation to quickly stock shelves at local food banks across the country.

This donation will have a direct impact on many of the fourteen hundred communities atmos energy serves 3 still to come..

The federal governmen's stockpile of masks, gowns and other protective gear is nearly depleted.after the break, deatils on the new fight brewing on capitol hill.

But first le's check in with meteorologist adam olivier.

3 after a couple of nice, dry days in acadiana, humidity returns this afternoon.

Clouds will also be on the increase throughout the day as return flow off the gulf brings us back to spring-time.

Highs will reach into the upper 70s.

No rain is expected today.

We will see a muggy night as temperatures only drop off into the lower 60s, though there still may be a chill in the air thanks to the higher moisture content.

Today: clouds increase through the afternoon.

Warm.

High: 77?

Tonight: mostly cloudy and muggy.

Low: 61?friday: mostly cloudy.

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