BATON ROUGE - East Baton Rouge Parish has met the requirements for bars to increase their indoor capacity.

According to the Department of Health website, the parish is one of the first in the state to meet the new criteria under Louisiana's Phase 3 order, which took effect Wednesday.

Under the new order, bars in parishes with COVID positivity rates at five percent or lower for consecutive weeks can expand indoor bar service to 50-percent capacity. Bars in parishes that don't meet that requirement can open to 25-precent capacity indoors. 

A spokesperson for the mayor's office said the Louisiana Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control confirmed the city-parish' eligibility, meaning bars in the area can start increasing capacity.