BATON ROUGE — Gov. John Bel Edwards is closing dine-in restaurants, bars, movie theaters, gyms and casinos statewide in dramatic new measures to mitigate the coronavirus crisis as the number of cases in Louisiana grew to 136 and a third death was reported Monday.

“More aggressive steps are necessary to fight the spread of COVID-19 across Louisiana," Edwards said. “These limitations were difficult to make, but they are necessary to slow the spread of COVID-19, protect the health of Louisianans and flatten the curve.”

He will also ban crowds of 50 or more following previous guidance from the Centers for Disease Control, although the CDC revised that number to 10 Monday for those most at risk like older adults.

Edwards said the third death was an 84-year-old patient in New Orleans who was a resident of the retirement home Lambeth House.

Restaurants can still offer drive-through, take-out and delivery options. Edwards said grocery stores will remain open and warned against hoarding. "As they say in New Orleans, 'Go make your groceries,'" Edwards said, which means cook and eat at home.

Louisiana's Legislature also voted Monday to recess until March 31.

“The public health crisis at hand has placed the legislature in unchartered waters,” said Senate President Page Cortez, R-Lafayette. “With every decision we make, we are balancing the health and welfare of our citizens, staff and legislators with our constitutional responsibilities. At this time, we believe it is in the best interest of our state to temporarily adjourn the session.”

The governor's latest restrictions come on the heels of his Friday order closing all public schools and postponing the April 4 presidential primary election.

He said more than 20 school districts have already implemented drive-through feeding sites for students and that all school districts will ultimately provide feeding sites.

Edwards' latest steps take effect at midnight Monday and will remain in place at least until April 13, but he said they could be extended two weeks beyond that time.

The Louisiana Supreme Court also ordered all jury trials scheduled to start between now and March 27 to be reset to a date no earlier than March 30.

“What we’re learning is that it can take two weeks for symptoms to appear," Edwards said. "We believe we are still unearthing community spread that’s been around for the past several weeks, which means it is a statewide problem that requires statewide solutions.

“In addition to meeting with (Republican U.S.) Sen. Bill Cassidy this morning, who is supportive of our efforts, I was also on a call with President Trump and Vice President Pence that lasted more than an hour and they were very clear that we must significantly expand our mitigation efforts to slow the progress of COVID-19 before there is more community spread. Action must be taken now, even in areas where there are no confirmed cases yet.”

Cassidy, a doctor, said the dramatic steps are necessary.

"COVID-19 could kill thousands of Americans in the next six months," he said. "The only sure way to stop this is to practice social distancing and other CDC recommendations to stop the spread of coronavirus. We in Louisiana should follow the recommendations of the president, the governor and local authorities. This is the only way to minimize the number of lives lost. We must work together.”

More:Louisiana Capitol coronavirus screenings begin Monday as lawmakers return to work

Edwards said all areas of the state can expect cases. The governor included Our Lady of the Lake hospital Dr. Catherine O'Neal at the press conference, who said, "Most of us will become infected over the next several months," but many won't exhibit symptoms.

"We know that we are one of the hot spots across the country," Edwards said.

For most people COVID-19 causes only moderate symptoms such as fever and cough. But for high-risk groups like older adults and those with existing health problems the coronavirus is much more serious.

Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1.