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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra visited New Orleans on Aug. 27 to raise attention to the Biden-Harris administration’s efforts to end the spread of COVID-19 and its variants, as part of the White House “Build Back Better” policy. Becerra spoke alongside community leaders in New Orleans on ways to improve “vaccine confidence.”

“We still got a lot of folks out there who if they just had a chance to really connect with folks and hear it with confidence and trust, they’d get vaccinated,” Becerra said at the panel held at Dillard University. “And here is the beautiful thing, we have a president that actually wants us to spend the resources to find those things, and we haven’t always had leadership that had wanted to reach out to corners of the country that are often left behind.”

The event included participation from Assistant Secretary Dawn O’Connell of the U.S. Office of Preparedness and Response for the HHS, U.S. Rep. Troy Carter D-La., Dillard University President Walter Kimbrough and Xavier University of Louisiana President Reynold Verret. During the panel, Dillard University held “Pathway to Normalcy,” a free COVID-19 vaccination drive at its Student Union and Health and Wellness Center. The HHS secretary visited the vaccination drive before speaking with members of the public.

“This Secretary has a very, very robust schedule with a lot of things going on but didn’t hesitate, didn’t blink when given the opportunity to come to New Orleans, to come to Louisiana to express his support,” Carter said.

Prior to visiting Dillard University, Becerra stopped by Children’s Hospital New Orleans LCMC Health to see their COVID-19 response in action. Recently, the federal government sent a“surge team” to the Children’s Hospital to help with round-the-clock care for children in the ICUsuffering from COVID-19. In Louisiana, 81,312 of COVID-19 cases reported are for those in the5 to 17-year age group, according to data from the Louisiana Department of Health. The LDH reports show that despite 5,355,460 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine being administered in the state, only 40.88 percent of residents are full vaccinated. Those who are not fully vaccinated account for 91 percent of COVID-19 hospitalizations in Louisiana.

Becerra said he wanted to hear from the community about how they could bring equal opportunities of receiving the vaccine to different groups. Medical professionals in various fieldsgave their opinions on how to build “vaccine confidence” in certain communities. Suggestions were made about the federal government having a more centralized message about vaccines to members of the public. Many in healthcare explained that a rise in misinformation has caused many of their patients to doubt their expertise.

For millennials and Generation Z, both university presidents shared how vaccine mandates have increased safety on their campuses. Dillard’s Bleu Troop, for instance, is a student-led initiative for preventing COVID-19. And both universities have required their students to be vaccinated in order to live on campus and attend classes this school year.

“We’re excited to be able to host [the] Secretary here as well as our Congressman for thisconversation about how we continue to work through this pandemic,” Kimbrough said. “I think alot of work has been done in this city and this state through a lot of coordination from the governor, the mayor, and our representatives in Congress.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention rank Louisiana as 48th in the nation for vaccination rates. Despite this, the city of New Orleans has the highest ranking in the state for vaccination. According to NOLA Ready, 74 percent of all adults are fully vaccinated in New Orleans.

During the discussion, different faith-based leaders explained to Becerra that Black churches in New Orleans have been crucial for getting the community vaccinated. Numerous vaccination drives and door-to-door campaigns were hosted by churches in order to raise vaccination rates. After hearing about how Black churches have been encouraging their congregations to vaccinate, Becerra questioned whether or not a similar approach was being taken at churches with predominantly Hispanic congregations.

The panelists also discussed who are the best representatives that could reassure the community about the COVID-19 vaccine. Community outreach spokespersons suggested delivering the message through trusted healthcare providers such as community health centers.

“I told my team at HHS that there are three principles we’re going to operate under: transparency, equity, and accountability,” said Becerra on reaching different communities.

“Equity has usually not been part of the mission of too much of government, and if we’re going to do this right, we’re going to have to hear from the folks that know how to reach the communities that are often left behind.”

Becerra said he was hopeful that younger and non-traditional voices would work to ensure that their peers received the COVID-19 vaccine.

“If we’re going to reach some of those people that don’t sit at the table, we’re going to need your help,” Becerra said.

“Here’s my challenge to you: give me an idea where I would harness the young folks, I would harness some of the folks that would never get to be in this meeting,” he said.

The Louisiana death toll from Hurricane Ida rose to 13 when a 74-year-old New Orleans man perished, Gov. John Bel Edwards said Sunday.

Edwards also said a potential tropical storm system that sparked concerns Saturday has diminished.

"They don't see much chance for development as of today," the governor said, citing weather forecasters. "We are very thankful for that."

The disturbance is continuing to move north and east across the Gulf of Mexico with its eye on Louisiana.

"It does have the potential to bring some rain to coastal Louisiana and southeast Louisiana by the way, which we don't want and don't need," Edwards said, adding that hurricane season continues and a significant storm could strike while the state is still recovering from Ida.

The governor made his comments after viewing some of the damage in hard-hit St. James and Assumption parishes.

Residents of St. James are expected to remain without power until Sept. 17 and Assumption until Sept. 22, according to Entergy officials.

Edwards was joined at the St. James Parish emergency operations center by 2nd District U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, D-New Orleans, state Sen. Ed Price, D-Gonzales and state Rep. Ken Brass, D-Vacherie.

Edwards said the New Orleans man died of heat exhaustion and a lack of oxygen during the power outage.

"Heat is a major factor right now," he said. "That is especially true in areas without power. Please take advantage of cooling shelters if you can. ... Your yard probably needs to be cleaned. It all doesn’t have to be cleaned today."

The governor urged caution with generators. "Run you generator if you have them but do so safely," he said.

Edwards said four of the 13 deaths stemmed from carbon monoxide, and 82 people have been taken to emergency rooms because of the poisoning.

Hurricane Ida struck on Aug. 29. 

Edwards said 597,371 customers – and far more people in those households – remain without power after a high of 1.2 million outages at the peak of the blackout.

"We know there are a lot of people out there hurting," he said.

In other updates, 380,000 people have applied for assistance from FEMA – the Federal Emergency Management Agency – and federal officials have paid out about $165 million.

Also, 36,000 state residents in parishes that qualified have applied for temporary roofs, known as blue roofs or blue tarps, that are assembled by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers under the direction of FEMA.

There is no charge for the roofs and Assumption Parish was added to the list Sunday.

Edwards said about 11,000 unemployment claims stemming from the storm have been filed and, starting Monday, applicants can do so by calling 1-866-783-5567.

A total of 8,406 National Guard members are in the field, including the entire Louisiana National Guard.

The State Fire Marshall has examined about 45,000 homes, so far, with about 7,000 suffering major damage and 1,900 destroyed.

A total of 3,560 Hurricane Ida survivors are staying in 23 state and local shelters.

Carter said officials know it is hot, and an especially trying time for those with disabilities.

"We have to remain calm and know that help is on the way," he said.

Back at the end of July, Governor Jon Bel Edwards became the first Democratic governor in the United States to end enhanced unemployment benefits.  According to CNN, the deal was a compromise to raise the regular benefit for those without a job in Louisiana by $28 to $275 per week.  At the time, most of us assumed that we were emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic.  Because of that (erroneous) assumption, it seemed to be a pretty good compromise.

The Case For Bringing the Expanded Benefits Back

Then, the Delta variant of the virus responsible for COVID-19 began to rise - and with it so did the number of new cases in the state.  Once again, we are seeing reports of hospitals at maximum capacity, mask mandates, and event cancellations.  When you combine that with the utter devastation Louisiana is dealing with now thanks to the destructive force of the category 4 hurricane named Ida.

The Man Behind the Plan

According to the ArkLaTex Homepage, a Louisiana congressman is now asking the Governor to reinstate the expanded unemployment benefits that many families in our state relied upon to make ends meet when they were laid-off or fired as a direct response to the pandemic.  Since things seem to be once again sliding towards a difficult future in the short-term, Democratic Congressman Troy A. Carter Sr. has formally requested the reinstatement in a letter sent to Edwards - and has requested that it be done retroactively.

What Does That Mean for the Unemployed?

That means that, if Carter's plan comes to fruition - those who were still drawing unemployment benefits when the extra help was halted would get "back pay" equaling the difference between the regular benefit they were receiving and the extra money allowed in the expanded benefits as soon as it is once again activated.  As for his reasoning, here is an excerpt from the letter he delivered to the governor:

Thousands of Louisianians are looking for ways to pay for hotel rooms, gas, and basic necessities.  Reinstating expanded unemployment benefits will enable many people the means to access food and shelter; basic necessities that every human should be afforded regardless of their employment or financial circumstances. Governor, the time to act is now.

The Ball is in Governor Jon Bel Edwards Court Now

No word from the governor's office in the form of a response to the aforementioned letter had been released at the time of this report.

LOOK: The most expensive weather and climate disasters in recent decades

Stacker ranked the most expensive climate disasters by the billions since 1980 by the total cost of all damages, adjusted for inflation, based on 2021 data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The list starts with Hurricane Sally, which caused $7.3 billion in damages in 2020, and ends with a devastating 2005 hurricane that caused $170 billion in damage and killed at least 1,833 people. Keep reading to discover the 50 of the most expensive climate disasters in recent decades in the U.S.

President Joe Biden visited Louisiana on Friday to survey damage from Hurricane Ida, after almost a week of the deadly storm ravaging the eastern half of the United States.

The President met with local leaders, surveyed some of the storm's damage and delivered remarks in LaPlace. He also participated in an aerial tour of some of the communities hardest-hit by the storm and met leaders in Lafourche Parish.

Upon his arrival in New Orleans, Louisiana, Biden was greeted by members of Louisiana's congressional delegation, including Republican House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, Republican Sens. Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy, Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards and New Orleans Democratic Mayor LaToya Cantrell. He was later met by Louisiana Democratic Rep. Troy Carter and GOP Rep. Garret Graves.

During a meeting at the St. John the Baptist Parish Emergency Operations Center, Biden said he was there "to listen."

"I think what we're all seeing, and I'm getting the same response from my Republican friends here that are in the Congress, is that there's nothing political about this. It's just simply about saving lives and getting people back up and running, and we're in this together. And so we're not going to leave any community behind, rural, city, coastal, and I promise to have your backs until this gets done," Biden said.

The President also tried to make the case for his legislative proposals funding more climate resilient infrastructure.

"Things have changed so drastically in terms of the environment. We've already crossed certain thresholds. We can't build back roads, highways, bridges, anything to what it was before. We gotta build back to what it is now, what's needed now," Biden said. "And I know the heads of the energy companies understand this really well. We have a significant piece of legislation, both the infrastructure bill and a budget thing, a reconciliation bill, that calls for significant investment in being able to deal with what is about to come."

Since the Category 4 hurricane plowed through the Gulf Coast over the weekend, there have been at least five confirmed deaths tied to the hurricane in Mississippi and Louisiana. Entire neighborhoods were windswept, flooded and damaged.

More than 800,000 homes and businesses in Louisiana remained without power on Friday, according to PowerOutage.US. And it could take weeks for power to be restored in some places, officials have said.

There are also gas shortages in Louisiana -- a critical region for the US' oil production and distribution -- leading residents to wait hours at the pump in high temperatures.

As of Thursday morning, nearly two-thirds of the gas stations in Baton Rouge (65.8%) and New Orleans (65.2%) were without fuel, according to outage figures compiled by GasBuddy. Nearly 36% of the gas stations statewide are reported as without fuel.

Ida's damage didn't stop in the Gulf and the Deep South.

In the last few days, the storm pummeled the East Coast, triggering flash floods and tornadoes across the Northeast. There have been at least 50 deaths in Connecticut, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia caused by floods.

Biden has emphasized his administration's deployment of federal resources to affected areas and his daily briefings on the storm. Most recently, on Thursday morning, the President highlighted several steps the federal government is taking to prevent the risk of gas shortages and price increases in the wake of the storm. And Thursday afternoon, the Biden administration announced it would be releasing 1.5 million barrels of crude oil from America's emergency stockpile of oil as Louisiana's gas crisis worsens.

The Bush administration tapped the Strategic Petroleum Reserve after Hurricane Katrina caused severe damage to the energy industry. The Trump administration did the same after Hurricane Harvey in August 2017.

Managing hurricanes has become a key test for presidents seeking to convey competence. Previous storms, including Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and Hurricane Maria in 2017, have strained federal resources and reflected poorly on the White House.

The Biden White House has acknowledged it faces two, if not more, natural disasters exacerbated by climate change across the country.

While a hurricane and destructive floods faced the eastern half of the United States, the Caldor Fire in the West has torched nearly 200,000 acres in California.

Biden's trip to Louisiana, his second to the state since coming into office, comes as he appears to face multiple domestic and international crises.

The visit to the Gulf is happening three days after the US' full withdrawal from Afghanistan, a chaotic airlift operation that left Afghans and American service members dead. And the US also continues to contend with the coronavirus, the emergence of the highly contagious Delta variant, and the pandemic's impact on the economy.

Biden's approval rating, meanwhile, is at its lowest point in his presidency.

In the average of polls, he stood at about 47% at the end of August, marking a steady decline from the beginning of August (51%), July (52%) and beginning of June (54%).

This headline and story have been updated to reflect Biden's visit.

Student loan forgiveness has gotten a lot of attention this year, particularly from Democratic congressional leadership calling for much of the debt to be completely wiped out. That’s certainly of interest to the more than 43 million affected borrowers, who have $1.7 trillion in debt as of the second quarter.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has been one of the loudest voices in the fight for mass student debt cancellation. He and other legislators—Sen. Elizabeth Warren in particular—have been pushing the Biden administration to cancel up to $50,000 in student loans for each borrower.  Schumer refers to the amassed student debt as the “anchor” weighing down minority groups and low-income borrowers.

Because the president’s party also controls Congress, Schumer is putting the heat on Joe Biden to cancel student debt as soon as possible. “Now is the time to take action,” Schumer said during an event hosted by Brookings in late June this year.

Schumer says that Biden could cancel student debt with “the flick of a pen,” but Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi disagrees that this could be taken care of with an executive order. Rather, she argues that mass student debt cancellation needs to be done through an act of Congress. 

“People think that the President of the United States has the power for debt forgiveness,” she said during a press conference in late July. “He does not. He can postpone, he can delay, but he does not have that power.” 

Student loan relief efforts in Congress

Several bills have been introduced to address larger-scale debt cancellation. In late July, Rep. Troy Carter, a Democrat from Louisiana, introduced the Student Loan Relief Act, which would direct the secretary of education to discharge up to $50,000 of federal student loan debt for each borrower. 

Pelosi hasn’t called for specific student debt cancellation measures. She has said that financial reasons shouldn’t be the barrier for attending college, but that many taxpayers could be resistant to footing the bill if they or their children hadn’t chosen to continue their education themselves. 

“What we’d like to do is have an economy that is fair, that gives opportunity, and does not hold anybody back because of financial reasons,” she said during her late July press conference. Rather, forgiveness has to be viewed in a “fair way,” in which it gives opportunity to all of America’s families, she added.

Where Biden stands on forgiveness

Biden has said he won’t make large-scale debt cancellation. While he’s open to allowing up to $10,000 to be forgiven per borrower, he won’t seem to budge on meeting Schumer and Warren at the $50,000 mark. Since taking office, the Biden approved discharging over $9.5 billion in student loans for more targeted groups, including borrowers with disabilities and those who attended now-defunct institutions.

Although financial hardship caused by COVID-19 certainly exacerbated the conversation about forgiveness, the “student debt crisis,” as it’s come to be known, is no new issue.

“Even before the coronavirus pandemic plunged our economy into chaos, student loan borrowers were already in crisis,” Warren said in a statement. “The President of the United States has the power to broadly cancel student loan debt, help close the racial wealth gap, and give a big boost to families and our economy. 

“It’s time to use this existing authority and permanently improve the lives of tens of millions of Americans.” 

President Joe Biden will get an up close look at the devastation wrought by Hurricane Ida on Friday when he plans to spend most of the day touring southeast Louisiana, the White House said Wednesday.

Details of the visit have yet to be finalized, but the president plans survey the disaster zone, where the monster storm came ashore with 150 mile per hour winds that stayed at hurricane force through much of its day-long trip Sunday through the Bayou country, over the River Parishes, and into the Florida parishes. Biden will meet with state and local leaders from impacted communities.

“We are pleased that the president recognizes the importance of seeing firsthand the damages throughout the state of Louisiana," said U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, the Democratic congressman who represents parts of New Orleans, Baton Rouge and the River parishes that were most severely impacted by the storm.

U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, also was thankful for the president’s visit “to help him understand the magnitude of the situation here in southeast Louisiana. We know from bitter experience with Hurricane Laura that aid can be delayed too long.”

Hurricane Laura similarly hit Lake Charles last year at this time, before Biden was president. Recovery and supplemental aid to southwest Louisiana has been slow in arriving.

President Joe Biden plans to visit New Orleans on Friday to survey damage from Hurricane Ida, which lashed southeastern Louisiana on Sunday as one of the five strongest storms to ever strike the U.S. packing 150 mph winds.

The White House said Biden will survey storm damage and meet with state and local leaders from impacted communities.

“We thank President Biden for coming down to help him understand the magnitude of the situation here in southeast Louisiana," Louisiana Republican U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy said. "We know from bitter experience with Hurricane Laura that aid can be delayed too long.

"We thank the federal partners who are already here helping with the recovery, and we will ask the President once again that supplemental aid be delivered to southwest Louisiana and expedited for southeast Louisiana.”

Democratic New Orleans Rep. Troy Carter is among those expected to meet with the president.

“We are pleased that the president recognizes the importance of seeing firsthand the damages throughout the state of Louisiana," Carter said. "This rapid response from (the president) further demonstrates his commitment to Build Back Better.”

Details remain tentative.