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Louisiana will stay in “Phase Three” and keep its current COVID-19 mitigation measures in place for another 28 days, Gov. John Bel Edwards announced Thursday. The governor’s Phase Three order was set to expire Friday, and he has extended it until at least Friday, Dec. 4, 2020.

“The mitigation measures we have in place are slowing the spread of COVID and saving lives and now is not the time to let up,” Edwards said. “All Louisianans need to continue to work together to slow the spread of COVID in our state and keep hospitalizations down so that we do not risk our ability to deliver health care to our people.

“We have now seen three consecutive days of increasing hospitalizations, and last saw this many people in the hospital in mid-September. As we move into the holiday season, it is important that people do not let their guard down. We have seen COVID spread because of small, private gatherings at people’s homes and everyone should be focused on minimizing their risk and protecting their loved ones.”

The White House Coronavirus Task Force shares data weekly with the states, which shows that while much of the nation is seeing a surge in new cases, Louisiana’s new case count and test positivity has remained mostly stable. Louisiana has the 44th highest number of new cases per capita, with the lowest test positivity and new cases per capita in the South.

Last week, Louisiana added 73 new COVID cases per 100,000 people, in comparison to a national average of 165 per 100,000 people.