Louisiana has become the first state to postpone its presidential primaries due to pandemonium surrounding the coronavirus outbreak.
The primary vote was scheduled to take place on April 4, but was pushed back on Friday to June 20, CNBC reports.
“We’re one of the few states that is supposed to have an election in early April, which we think could potentially be the height of some of this in Louisiana,” Christina Stephens, a spokesperson for Gov. John Bel Edwards told The Advocate.
“Our poll workers are by large elderly, over the age of 70 and we think it is unsafe for them to be monitoring the election. We don’t think we would have enough poll workers…and we think we should be discouraging people from congregating in that way.”
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Last week, the state confirmed its presumptive first case of the new coronavirus (COVID 19) was diagnosed in a Jefferson Parish resident, according to the governor’s office.
According to data about the outbreak, which originated in Wuhan, China, senior citizens and those with immune deficiencies have a greater risk of contracting the disease.
The coronavirus reportedly has about a 2% mortality rate, but for people age 70 to 79, the fatality rate is 8 percent.
“Risks of contracting disease is based on epidemiologic exposure — and therefore exposure to persons infected with the Wuhan Coronavirus, and those ill with respiratory symptoms who have traveled to Wuhan or neighboring cities,” Dr. Debra Chew, assistant professor of medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, told Fox News.
“This may expand with more cases and global travel.”
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President Donald Trump will declare a national emergency on Friday over coronavirus to speed up the government’s response to the pandemic.
The news comes as Trump continues to catch heat over his administration’s response to the pandemic. Most of the criticism stems from the lack of coronavirus testing being done compared with other countries, NBC News reports.
Trump will invoke the Stafford Act to allow for more federal aid to be sent to states, according to Bloomberg.