BATON ROUGE - According to a Thursday morning news release, the Office of Juvenile Justice will begin limiting the number of visitors, contractors, and deliveries on secure care campuses until further notice.

Officials say the new restrictions are the result of the current surge in positive COVID-19 cases in Louisiana.

As of January 6, 2022, all in-person family visitation is suspended, but video visitation will continue.

OJJ says it will analyze data and guidance from state and national public health officials to decide when it will be appropriate for visitation to resume.

Since the pandemic began, related protocol requires all individuals entering secure care facilities to be screened per public health guidelines, which includes a temperature check. This will remain in effect.

Additionally, officials say PPE continues to be distributed throughout the secure care facilities.

The department notes that quarantine and isolation guidelines are still in place to accommodate any exposure that has been determined.