BATON ROUGE — Gov. John Bel Edwards signed a proclamation Friday that among other actions immediately halts any gathering of more than 250 people until Monday, April 13, closes all K-12 public schools statewide effective Monday, March 16 resuming Monday, April 13, as Louisiana seeks to slow the spread of COVID-19 in the state.

As of mid-day Friday, Louisiana has 33 presumptive positive cases of COVID-19.

All public schools in the State of Louisiana shall close facilities to students until April 13, 2020, stated in the proclamation. Schools may offer complete distance learning, as capabilities exist. With appropriate social distancing measures, schools shall, if able, continue to provide meals or other essential services with applicable staff. Instructional minute requirements shall be temporarily suspended for distance education courses and for curriculum delivery, according to the Governor. The required 63,720 instructional minute requirement per year shall also be suspended. The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education shall report to the Governor and the Legislature any further actions necessary to ensure that eligible students achieve successful student grading, promotion, and graduation.

The Governor will address this order at his 3 p.m. joint media briefing with New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell at New Orleans City Hall, which will also be live-streamed at Facebook.com/LouisianaGov [gov.louisiana.gov].