BATON ROUGE - Governor Edwards took to Facebook Wednesday morning to urge Louisianians to practice social distancing and mask up, saying, "Louisiana is now first in the nation in per capita COVID-19 cases. This is a statewide epidemic, and just one person’s actions can help stop the spread of COVID-19."

Another 1,125 coronavirus infections were verified by the state health department Tuesday, and 3,700 Louisiana residents have died from the COVID-19 disease caused by the virus. Nearly 1,600 patients with the disease are hospitalized.

Some view the lack of an uptick in COVID hospitalization statistics for the past six days as a hopeful sign.

Louisiana’s current mask mandate and restrictions on businesses, churches and other activities expire Aug. 7. The governor is expected to announce whether he’ll extend the same regulations or tweak them a few days prior to that date.

Baton Rouge mayor Sharon Weston Broome announced Tuesday that she’ll extend her local mask mandate until the parish enters Phase 3 of reopening under the White House guidelines.

Governor Edwards concluded his Wednesday morning post by saying, "If everybody would reduce the number of times they leave their homes, it would significantly diminish the impact of the disease on our state and health care system."